My Dearly Relentless Mind
by Innocent-Diamond
Summary: He studied diligently to keep the memory of his closest loved one alive. She worked endlessly to forget the traumatic event that left her alone. But his determination to uncover the truth isn't the only thing that's pushing her to the edge while starting a new life.
1. Falsely Escapable

_It was dark. The lights were off. The door was blocked from the inside._

 _Sunlight shone from outside and cast a silhouette of the ventilation fan high up on the locker room walls, just above a few arterial blood splatter sprays. Female bodies laid on the locker room's tile floor. The atmosphere was filled with blood, labored breathing, and cries for help._

 _One girl sat on the tile floor, scooting back as far as possible as a hooded figure approached her, presumably a man. Sunlight reflected off a knife in the person's raised hand. "Please don't kill me!" she begged. "Why are you doing this?!"_

 _Instead of replying, he crouched down and brandished the knife in her face. Without a word, he stabbed her abdomen, and—_

"Somebody save me!"

A redhead girl popped out of bed in hyperventilation. She clutched her chest with one hand and stared at her other hand. At the staircase, a woman with glasses and short blond hair entered the room. "Good morning, Alice. Did you sleep well last night?"

"Good morning, Aunt Clara. I'm fine." Alice looked at her hands again, then at her alarm clock. _It was just a nightmare, but everything still happened._ "Looks like I woke up before my alarm. Aunt Clara, I'm going to use the bathroom now."

"Sounds good, Alice. I'll go back to making breakfast."

Alice washed up in the bathroom and changed into casual clothes, but never stopped staring her reflection in the mirror. _How can I stop having nightmares? I moved to Aunt Clara's house to avoid everything, but it's not working._ The redhead descended the stairs and ate her breakfast at the dining table. "Aunt Clara, can you drive me to work today?"

"Of course, sweetie! If there's anything that you need to make your life in Bayview more comfortable, then I'll be glad to help."

"Thanks, Auntie. You're the best." Alice fixed her clothes one last time in the mirror, grabbed her crossbody purse, and boarded Clara's car.

The ride to Alice's new workplace was silent. While the redhead stared out the window the whole time, Clara asked, "Have you explored Bayview's neighborhoods yet?"

"No, I spent my time calculating how much it would cost me to take various types of public transportation to work."

"Alice, I don't mind taking a longer commute to send you off to work early. I **must** take you around during the weekend."

"Aunt Clara, I know you mean well, but I want to try being independent again, ever since..."

The blonde woman sighed. "Ever since that incident?"

"It's not something that I can forget easily."

Clara parked in front of a sidewalk near Alice's workplace building. "Well, we're here." She hugged her niece before letting her out of the car. "Call me if you need anything. Good luck on your first day, Alice!"

"Thanks, Aunt Clara. I know what I'm doing." After watching her aunt drive away, the redhead sighed and entered the company building. _This is where my new work place is._ She approached the front desk. "Good morning. What floor is Free BV Radioon?"

"Let's see..." The receptionist checked the directory. "Thirteenth floor."

 _Thirteen? That's unlucky._ Alice thanked the receptionist before boarding the elevator, which she had the elevator all to herself. The redhead leaned against the elevator wall and hummed. Suddenly, the machinery stopped, and all was silent for a minute. She hyperventilated and fell to the ground. _Don't tell me that it's happening again._

The doors finally opened at the thirteen floor, and Alice stood up before two women walked inside. One of them complained, "If nobody fixes this elevator soon, then I'm definitely suing somebody."

"Relax. Maintenance staff will come by eventually."

The redhead ran out immediately and entered a set of double doors that said **FREE BV RADIO** and introduced herself. "Hi everyone. I'm Alice Gehabich, your new coworker—"

"You're finally here!" A green-eyed girl with sky blue hair in pigtails greeted the redhead. "I'm Runo Misaki. We've been expecting you...although I'm the only one here right now. Dylan won't be here until noon, and the others took some days off from work for various reasons." After eliciting no response from Alice, Runo apologized. "Am I scaring you?"

"Runo, you're not scaring me at all." The redhead gripped her purse strap and breathed normally. "I'm glad that there's at least somebody here to greet me. What's there for me to do today?"

"You're thinking about work already?! Let me show you around first! By the way, are you free for the next hour? I'll take you out to brunch."

"Please don't take me out on the first day. I'd really like to start working—" Despite strong opposition, the bluenette still took Alice out for brunch downstairs after showing her around the office.

Upon returning after brunch, a blue-eyed girl with her silver hair in a ponytail opened the door on surprise. "You must be Alice Gehabich! I'm Julie Makimoto. Don't mind my slight Australian accent. Runo, how dare you take our new coworker to brunch without me?!"

Runo rolled her eyes. "How was I supposed to know that you're coming back today? All the other desks were empty for at least an hour after I got here."

After the bluenette walked off, Julie took Alice to the recording room. "I'm sure Runo showed you around already, but this is my **favorite** place. Runo and I don't go on air, but we do a lot of paperwork, editing, writing, and so on. The way Free BV Radio works is that almost anyone can use the facilities for shows and promotions, but we're the only ones that can occupy this office studio space that contained the actual recording room. By the way, your radio debut here will be tomorrow on Dylan's show, 'Down with DJ Dylan'. We're finalizing the script now."

"Wait! I'm going on air tomorrow morning?!"

Runo entered the recording room and explained. "Dylan originally wanted you to start **today** , but Julie and I convinced him to give you a break, so that you'll adapt to your new environment first. No matter what happens, Julie and I have you covered."

"Runo's right, Alice. Count on us!"

The bluenette and Australian each hugged one of Alice's arms. _Maybe this job will work out better for me. I can't believe I made new friends already._ The redhead sighed and nodded. "Thanks for supporting me on the first day, you two. I'll definitely work hard."s

 **-x-x-x-x-x-**

"Shun, you **cannot** use the entire living room as your study space!"

A brunette boy in simple police uniform opened the front door of his house and screamed as a raven-haired college student continued writing on a large rolling whiteboard. "Dan, your mom said that I can do whatever makes me feel comfortable, and I enjoy doing my school work in the sunny living room while you're out."

"You're the only one among us who's still in college, Shun. Everyone else is working already. Have a social life, please."

"Need I remind you that you're still attending the police academy?"

"At least I can patrol the streets with my peer mentor present. You can't even practice whatever science you're studying!"

Shun tightened his grip on the marker, but ultimately wiped away the words and drawings that he made on the whiteboard. "So much for studying while class is cancelled. How come you're back so early?"

"The supervisors have a meeting, so they let us all go home early. But Shun, we need to talk. You've changed, man. You weren't like this when we went to school, or when we first let you stay at my house to avoid living on college campus. Like I said, you need a social life. You can't just stay indoors and study. Go out and do interesting things!"

"Dan, what's your point? People change. It happens. Besides, I can't get distracted."

"More like not wanting to disappoint—"

"Can you leave me alone now? I have to redo this character map."

"Who still does character maps in college?! I haven't done those since elementary school."

"Dan, I'm double majoring in psychology and communications. Deal with it. Do you have anything more to say?"

"In fact, I do." The brunette took out his phone and showed Shun a series of text messages. "Runo's hosting a party on Saturday. Are you free?"

"Of course not. I have a midterm next Wednesday."

"Shun, this is part of establishing your social life. Parties are—"

"I have enough friends already. Thanks."

"Please go, Shun! Almost all our friends are going!" Suddenly, Shun's phone rang, which he picked up. Dan looked over the raven-haired student's shoulder and laughed. "Hah! Runo's calling you! Can't say no now."

Shun ignored the brunette and answered. "Runo, what is it?"

"I'm hosting a welcoming party on Saturday at noon. Do you want to come?"

"I have a midterm next Wednesday, so no. Who are you even welcoming?"

"You're asking me about that despite not being interested? I won't tell you then. You'll just have to come to find out."

"Are you kidding me? Dan has been annoying me about it ever since he came back, and now you're playing me too."

"But Shun, there will be free food! Every college student could use some free food."

Even the brunette heard Runo scream about free food. "Come on, Shun. Just go! We're friends, after all."

After long thought, Shun finally agreed. "Fine. Expect me there." He hung up quickly and interrupted Dan before he could talk. "Satisfied yet? Now I have to call my classmates to reschedule our study sessions."

"That's the spirit, man! Never forget your friends! Anyway, I'll shower now. You can resume studying."

As Dan sang and skipped off to the bathroom, Shun quickly rewrote what he erased, but then flipped the board over to reveal a different character map. This one had many names, boxes, circles, and arrows...as well as many blanks. _No matter how long it takes, I need to solve this case. I can't let past efforts go to waste._

 **-x-x-x-x-x-**

Dylan and Alice removed their headphones and exited the recording room. The radio DJ shook hands with his new show assistant. "Today was an awesome broadcast, Alice! You're even better than what your resumé and references stated."

"Thanks, Dylan. I'm happy that you appreciate my work."

"No worries! Keep it up!" He patted Alice on the shoulder before leaving the office studio.

Runo exited the lounge and hugged the redhead. "You were awesome! I don't think anyone would've expected a calm person like you to talk so boldly about the topics that Julie and I came up with today."

Julie left her desk and hugged the redhead too. "I bet all other radio stations will be envious that we have a lively talk-show host like you."

 _Calm and lively...I wish that were true._ "Thanks, Runo. Thanks, Julie. You two came up with the raw script, after all. Besides, this is exactly what I used to do in my previous job in Wardington. Unfortunately, the company faced financial troubles, so I was laid off. I'm glad that Free BV Radio was willing to take me."

"Are you used to living here yet?" the Australian asked.

"I live with my Aunt Clara for now. I moved here not too long ago, so I don't know where most major locations are in Bayview yet."

"Speaking of moving, I'm going to have a party on Saturday at noon." the bluenette reminded. "Please come, Alice! It'll be fun! You'll get to meet all of our other friends."

 _Socializing? No...please don't._ "Sorry, Runo. Aunt Clara said she'll take me around this weekend."

"But Alice, you can do that on Sunday! Come to my house on Saturday for the party, please!"

"Runo's right, Alice. You're completely new to Bayview, and we want you to feel comfortable. Think of this as a welcoming party!" Julie then nudged Alice on the arm. "I'm pretty sure there will be lots of guys there."

"All right, I get it!" The redhead finally gave up and agreed. "Runo, I'll go to the party, but you're taking me there because I don't know my way around."

"No problem, Alice! Let's make sure all of us exchanged contact information first."

After exchanging information, the redhead went to the restroom. The Australian whispered to the bluenette, "See? If I don't mention guys, she won't say yes. Always mention that the opposite gender will be there."

"Dan's definitely going. I still need to contact other people. Let me call Shun first—"

"Seriously? **Shun**?! I haven't seen him since...his summer vacation! Forget about him!"

"Sorry Julie, but Dan and I made a pact that we need to make sure Shun has a social life ever since...you know what I'm talking about."

"He's still not over it, huh? Well, you're the party host, so you decide. I'm going to eat lunch now."

"And I'm going back to work."

Later, Alice exited the restroom and returned to her desk as well. She grabbed her phone tightly and stared at her table, empty of any personalized decorations. _I don't know if I can do this. What if I can't control myself?_

 **-x-x-x-x-x-**

"How long do we have to keep hiding?" Dan complained as he leaned uncomfortably behind a wall. "My back hurts."

"You're too young for back pain," Julie sneered. "Everyone be quiet! I hear footsteps."

Outside the Misaki residence, Runo fumbled with her keys to purposely give the people inside extra time to prepare. "Sorry for taking so long, Alice. I have too many keys."

"Take your time, Runo."

The bluenette eventually found the correct key and unlocked the front door. After turning the lights on, people stepped out of their hiding spots and shouted, "Surprise! Welcome to Bayview, Alice!"

"What the—" Confetti showered on the redhead as everyone jumped out with party hats and whistles. "Runo, you and Julie weren't kidding when you said that this would be a welcoming party..."

"I know it's a welcoming party, but guys, you don't need party hats! This is **not** a birthday party!" The bluenette introduced her new friend to all. "Everyone, this is Alice Gehabich. She's our new coworker at Free BV Radio."

The brunette introduced himself first. "Hi Alice! I'm Dan Kuso, currently a student at Bayview Police Academy."

Julie jumped forward and hugged Alice's arm. "You remember me, right?"

"Of course, Julie. I met you and Runo on my first day of work."

Other people were busy eating the free food already, so Runo grabbed Alice's hand and dragged her over. "Looks like it's time for desperate measures..."

Dan and Julie stared at the other hungry people and sighed. "Wait! Dan, where's Shun? Don't tell me he skipped! Although, I'm not surprised."

"Actually, I don't know. I came here **with** him, but where's he now?" After looking around, the brunette noticed a shadow in the front yard. "When did Shun even sneak outside?"

On the grass, Shun was talking on his phone and hung up just before his best friend jumped out. "Dan, what the hell?! Thank goodness I finished talking before you could do anything."

"Shun, the guest of honor is here. You missed the surprise ceremony!"

"What guest of honor? What surprise ceremony?"

The Australian smacked her forehead. "Didn't Runo tell you that this was a **welcoming** party? Now you can meet the person that we're welcoming to Bayview."

"Oh. That..."

Inside the house, Runo also noticed that Shun was missing and muttered to herself. "Where's Shun? I thought Dan brought him as promised."

Alice took a sip of fruit punch and asked, "What are you talking about?"

"One of our friends, Shun Kazami, is nowhere to be seen. He's the only person that you haven't met yet. Either way, follow me."

The redhead thought about that name and felt butterflies in her stomach. _It's happening again, but why am I not feeling well so suddenly?_ "Runo, I don't think—"

"There he is!" Just as Shun was about to go inside, the angry bluenette approached him while still holding onto Alice's hand. "Shun, where were you? You still haven't met the guest of honor yet."

"Sorry, Runo. I had a call—"

Upon closing his phone screen, Shun's amber eyes met with Alice's chocolate-brown irises after she finally pulled Runo's hand off. The raven-haired student wasn't sure why she was so mesmerizing, but the redhead felt her heart race and her stomach churn even faster.

Runo spoke up anyway, even though it didn't cut off their eye contact. "Since none of you will talk, I'll introduce you to each other. Shun, this is Alice Gehabich, our new coworker at the radio station. Alice, this is Shun Kazami, one of our best friends who's **still** attending whatever college he's at."

Shun waved casually. "Nice to meet you, Alice."

 _Shun...Kazami?_ Alice repeated that name under her breath as images popped up in her mind. Goosebumps covered her skin as she trembled. _It can't be..._

The odd behavior confused everyone. Runo, feeling the most responsible, tapped her friend's shoulder. "Alice, are you—"

"Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!"

The redhead screamed louder than a banshee before running away.


	2. Trauma Still Lingers

As Alice ran back toward the back of the house, Shun looked around blankly. "Did I do something wrong? What—"

"I **told** you not to bring **him** here," said Julie angrily toward Runo. "Look at what happened."

Runo simply glared at Shun before chasing after Alice.

The raven-haired student also ran forward, but Dan held him back. "Shun, what do you think you're doing?! Runo and Julie clearly don't need your help."

"Dan, let go. There's something not right about Alice, and I need to talk—"

"I think Alice will scream even more if you go after her. Now leave her alone!"

Shun reluctantly let his best friend drag him outside as he stared at the crowd inside the house. _Why does her name and face seem so familiar? I swear I've never met her before, but something about her reminds me of something else._

Runo and Julie searched all around house until they found Alice leaning over the edge of the balcony upstairs. The bluenette opened the sliding glass door slowly and asked, "Alice, what's wrong?"

The redhead continued leaning over the balcony with her hands over the ears. She shook her head and repeated, "Please don't kill me... Please don't kill me..."

"No one's trying to kill you, Alice." Runo reassured. "You were scared to see Shun, right?"

Alice screamed and leaned even closer over the edge.

"Runo, you might want to watch your words..." Julie whispered.

"Well, at least I know that she's afraid of **him**." The bluenette raised her voice and added, "Alice, as long I'm here, I promise to keep him away from you. Are you feeling better?"

Their new co-worker stopped shaking her head and turned around. "Really?"

"I'll handle it from here," the Australian told Runo. "I think Dan just came up the stairs."

"Thanks, Julie." The bluenette backed up slowly and greeted the brunette at the stairs. "I hope Shun didn't come up here with you."

"Relax! I made sure that he didn't follow me upstairs, but I seriously regret inviting Shun over now. What was I thinking?"

"Honestly, none of us saw this coming, Dan." Runo sighed and glanced at Julie, who was still calming Alice down. "This is worse than I thought..."

 **-x-x-x-x-x-**

 _She's giving me this weird feeling of familiarity, but I just_ _ **can't**_ _explain it..._

"Shun, what are you doing?"

"What the—"

The raven-haired student hid his phone quickly as Dan entered the house, but the brunette already saw everything that was on his friend's phone. "Scrolling through photos of Runo's party, huh? I know who you were looking at."

"Dan, it's none of your business."

The brunette took his phone out and searched for the same photos on social media. "You were looking at Alice, weren't you? I told you to leave her alone, Shun. She's absolutely scared of you."

"But **I** don't know why **she's** so scared of me. I can't let that go until I know why."

"Shun, are you seriously suffering from love at first sight? If so, then you've failed badly. So much for Runo and I making a pact to change your social life."

"But Dan, don't you think something's wrong here? Alice and I met for the first time, but she already has an inexplicable bad impression of me."

"Maybe she's screaming at you because she doesn't want you going after her for any reason."

 _Going after her...there's more than one meaning to that._ Without a word, Shun flipped over the whiteboard to reveal the complicated character map from before. _At this point, anything is possible._

"Shun, are you okay?" As the raven-haired student worked on the whiteboard, Dan tried to catch his friend's attention, but to no avail. "I know what that look means. Please answer me before you go too far down this spiral, Shun."

"Be **quiet**." The brunette finally shut up after hearing Shun's angry command. "I'm trying to concentrate, and you're not helping." After a long moment of silence from reading all the notes on the white board, he then entered his room and searched through shelves and drawers until he found the binders he needed. "Everything makes sense now."

"Yeah, but nothing makes sense to **me** ," complained Dan as he stood outside the doors. "Wait, I recognize those binders. Weren't they your—"

Shun closed a binder loudly in front of brunette, leaving the latter even more stunned. "Thanks for the tip, Dan. Right now, I need to ask Alice about what exactly happened that day."

"You mean about the welcoming party? I don't see—"

"That's **not** what I'm talking about."

"Shun, you're going down that spiral again..."

Dan was still confused about what Shun had discovered, but the raven-haired youth knew exactly what he was looking for. He pulled out one sheet of paper to read—a long, detailed psychological evaluation of some patient, in which most of the information was redacted. _Everything's a match. Now I just need to ask her for the truth._

 **-x-x-x-x-x-**

As Alice packed up her laptop before leaving work, a short boy with navy blue hair stood in front of her desk. "Today was another wonderful broadcast, Alice. The viewership ratings increased all the way."

Another short boy but with platinum hair stood in front of the empty space by the redhead's swivel chair. "I think you would be perfectly fine holding up the show on your own. You have better ideas than Dylan."

"Rafe, Jack, it's not a big deal. I'm just doing what I do best," replied to her other coworkers. "I need to go home now. See you all tomorrow." After ascending the elevator, Alice answered a call from her aunt. "What is it?"

"There was a traffic accident near the highway exit, but I'll be there as soon as possible."

"I can wait. Take your time." The redhead hung up just before exiting the elevator and held her forehead in pain. _Why can't stop thinking about him? If I hadn't gone to Runo's party, then nothing would've happened. My nightmares have gotten worse._ She drank from water fountain and washed her face in the restroom before stepping onto the sidewalk.

However, waiting for her there wasn't her aunt, but the one person that she didn't want to see the most.

After seeing Alice walk away in a rush, Shun left his spot at the sidewalk tree and ran after her. "Hey! Can we talk?"

He was about to grab her arm until the redhead noticed and slapped his hand away. "Get away from me! You've caused enough trouble already!"

"At least listen to me first." Shun backed up, and Alice stood calmly while glaring. "I honestly don't know why I'm making you feel bad. We've never met before, and I want to clear any misunderstandings between us before this—"

Suddenly, Alice snapped her fingers loudly, prompting Shun to stop. "You want to know why I don't like you so much?"

The raven-haired youth stopped in place as the silence went on.

"It's because your mother wouldn't leave me alone even after the case was closed!"

After another long moment of silence, Shun concluded, "I was right all along..."

Alice gasped after realizing that she fell for his trick. "You lied! You knew everything all along! Just because your mother's gone doesn't mean **you** have the right to stalk **me**!"

"But I'm not stalking you! Three years ago, there was an incident in a female locker room at Wardington School of Integrated Health Sciences. Three girls were murdered, one is still comatose to this day, but the last one girl made it out alive. I didn't realize that the sole survivor was you until—"

The redhead screamed again. "How do you know all this?! A couple of us were underage, meaning that **none** of our names could be disclosed. I can't believe your mother violated patients' confidentiality!"

"That's not the point. My mom couldn't finish a final psych evaluation because she died in a car accident. Since no one else was willing to take on the case, all leads went cold, and the file was closed. But, I **know** there was something else behind it."

"I don't care! Like you said, it's been **three** years. The police already caught and jailed the assailant, and I graduated already. My family's doing everything to help me forget, but you just **had** to bring everything back up! Why can't you just move on?"

"But don't you think there's more to why you're the only one alive? I don't think revenge was the motive, so—"

"That's just your speculation. I need to go home now, so leave me alone."

The redhead scurried away after cutting Shun's sentence off. However, he took out his phone and played a certain audio track before Alice walked too far. The elegant, soothing violin tunes on the music file prompted her to stop running. _I knew this specific track must mean_ _ **something**_ _. Mom wouldn't keep a seemingly irrelevant MP3 for nothing._

The redhead began hyperventilating as she fell to the ground, hands over the ears. "Shut that music off immediately! I don't want to ever hear it again!"

"Alice, I need to know what this song means—"

"Play that song one more time, and I'll go insane and back to where I once was again!" With that said, the redhead screamed one more time before shoving Shun and running away.

The raven-haired stopped his fall by holding onto a tree. He regained his balance and watched Alice disappear around the corner. _Mom, you were right. Alice's PTSD is just as severe as you described it in your initial reports, but proper therapy will heal it...and reveal the truth about three years ago._

 **-x-x-x-x-x-**

Just before ending her shift, Alice organized loose papers on her desk and was about to stack them when someone approached her desk, making Alice drop everything. "I'm so sorry! Let me clean—"

"Alice, are you okay?" Runo stood confused in front of Alice, and the redhead didn't know what to do next. "You look pale. Are you sick? If you are, then maybe—"

"I'm not sick. Thanks for asking." Alice picked up the fallen papers and discreetly asked, "Can we talk outside?"

The bluenette stared back with a confused face, but finally nodded. "Sure. Let's go outside."

Once she was certain that no one was around, Alice explained everything. "Runo, I don't know if I can handle this anymore. Ever since seeing Shun at your party, I haven't slept well. You don't notice this, but I can tell that Dylan isn't satisfied with my work. A few days ago, I saw Shun waiting for me by the parking lot entrance. He—"

"Wait—he still actively looked for you after all of us told him to stay away from you?!" Runo screamed, catching attention from bystanders. "Sorry for screaming. As much as I don't like how he's so persistent, you need to solve what's going on between you two as well. Is there something—"

"Just keep him away from me," Alice interrupted. "That's all that matters."

Runo blinked a few times for sighing. "I get it, Alice. However, Shun's a human being himself and won't always listen to me...or Dan." At the same time, Runo's phone rang. "Dan just happened to call me. What's up, Dan?"

Alice whispered quickly, "I'm getting off work early, so see you tomorrow."

Meanwhile, Dan's voice projected from the bluenette's phone. "Runo, I can't pick you up later because my supervisor put me on an emergency mission, so see you—"

"Wait! Are we still having dinner tonight then?"

"Probably not, because now we're on the move since our target just drove off. Bye!" With that said, Dan hung up boarded a colleague's police vehicle. "Billy, follow that blue pick-up truck right now! Turn your radio to Chan's frequency!"

"Got it!" The blond inserted a key into the car's engine and turned some dials on the radio. "This is Billy Gilbert speaking, with Daniel Kuso beside me."

Crackling noises echoed before a female voice spoke up. "Dan, you heard what I said about keeping your eyes on the target. Since Billy's also here, it wouldn't hurt for both of you to go after him. Now move!"

"Yes, madam!" replied the two trainees before driving off.

After a few minutes of being followed, the blue pick-up truck sped up quickly. Billy turned on the car's sirens and stepped on the gas pedal. "The suspect knows that we're coming after him. By the way, what did this guy do?"

"He's a potentially dangerous individual who—watch out! Turn left immediately!"

After the blond colleague made a sharp turn, he quickly caught his breath. "Thanks for the warning, Dan. We've been going around in circles, and the truck makes surprise sharp turns every so often to ditch us."

"Chan needs to stop assigning difficult—" The brunette stopped midsentence after seeing two familiar people arguing on a nearby sidewalk. "What are Shun and Alice doing here?!"

"Dan, can we focus on the vehicle pursuit, please? Chan made us—technically **you** —do this for a—"

"Did Alice just cross the street?!" screamed the brunette in response to seeing the redhead dash from one sidewalk to the other. "Billy, stop the car! The pick-up truck just hit the brakes after—"

"Aaaaaaahhhhhhh!"

The police trainees stared ahead blankly, then at each other, after hearing an unexpected scream. After stopping his car, the blond unfastened his seat belt and got off first. "I think the driver hit more than just the brakes. Sounds like someone got hurt."

"But...the only other person near Alice...was Shun." After a moment of realization, Dan also got off quickly and ran in front of the pick-up truck. Sitting on the asphalt was the police trainee's best friend, who was easing the pain off one of his knees while looking back. "Shun! You **did** get hit!"

Shun was in no mood to contest Dan's lame jokes, and there was only one thing important on his mind. "Great. I lost Alice."

While the blond subdued the escaping suspect, the brunette scratched his head and called an ambulance. "Shun, I don't know what you're doing, but getting hurt is out of the question."

"I'm **fine**." After switching hands to alleviate the pain on his knees, Shun felt something metallic on the ground. _It's a bracelet with some charms on it. It clearly doesn't belong to me or the other guys..._ "Where's Alice?"

Dan sighed at how relentless his best friend was. After finishing his call, he looked around. "Sorry man, she's not here. I haven't seen her since she crossed the street a while ago."

Billy approached Dan while dragging the suspect by the handcuffs. "What do we do now? Chan told you to keep your eyes on this guy, and now he ends up hitting Shun."

"More reason to press charges on the driver, I guess." Wailing sirens echoed in the distance and became louder. "The ambulance is here. Which one of us is staying?"

"Dan, you should accompany Shun to the hospital. Seems like he was doing something important, and you're better at keeping him in check than I am."

"Huh, good point. See you later." As paramedics escorted Shun into the ambulance, Dan quickly called Runo. "You have **no** idea what just happened! I saw Shun and Alice arguing on the street while chasing a suspect, and the suspect ended up hitting Shun as he crossed the street! He's fine, but Alice ran off. I wasn't expecting either one of them to be out here this early."

"I know Alice requested to leave work early today, and maybe Shun didn't have any afternoon classes. But what **were** they thinking? Alice won't tell me anything."

"Neither will Shun, but every time he thinks about her, he always digs up old folders from his mom's belongings. I **don't** know what Shun is thinking."

"Well, we all know what Shiori-san did for a living, and I find it hard to believe that Alice would be associated somehow. This is a horrible start. How do we help Alice overcome her fears while helping Shun reestablish his social life?"

"I think the problem is deeper than what we know." The brunette turned around and saw paramedics about to close the ambulance doors. "Got to go. Shun's off to the hospital now."

"Be careful, Dan."


	3. Willing to Heal

There was a possibility that Shun may have dislocated a knee after getting hit, so he stayed in the hospital overnight for further observation. Dan and Runo visited their friend on the weekend when they were both free.

The raven-haired patient flexed his knee and looked up to see his friends visiting. "You two are early today. The doctors said that I'd be discharged in the afternoon."

Dan laid a large thermos container on the side drawer. "My mom made this for you to eat before you leave. You're lucky that your school is having long weekend. Missing class is the least of your problems right now."

"I can always get notes from classmates and listen to lecture recordings. Not that I need to."

Runo sighed. "You're acting as if nothing happened, Shun. Going after Alice is also the least of your problems. Why can you just leave her—"

"Wait. Speaking of Alice, have any of you seen her since yesterday's incident?" Shun interrupted.

The brunette shook his head. "I haven't, sorry. After I arrested the perpetrator that Billy and I were chasing, everyone at the police station has been busy with that case."

"Speaking of case..." The bluenette took her phone and scrolled through some messaged. "Dylan said he's interested in inviting both of you over to the radio station someday for a special episode. Personally, I think it's a publicity stunt, but you know I can't say no to him. Of course, the special episode will take place when you're both free."

"Public stunt or not, I deserve this!" cheered Dan, who then got shushed by other visitors. "Sorry, got too excited. What about you, Shun?"

"Runo, does Alice know that Dylan wants to invite Dan and I over to be on-air?"

The bluenette scrolled through more messages. "Alice is off today, so I won't see her until tomorrow. Julie emailed everyone last night, so Alice should know already. And Dan, don't you need Chan's approval to discuss anything regarding the case?"

"But Runo, you're the one saying that we got invited to speak on-air!"

"That's because Dylan is a difficult person to deal with!"

"Fine! I'll call Chan right now."

Shun ignored his friends' bickering and grabbed his phone from his jacket. _If Alice is out today, maybe I can go on Monday when there's no class. That would also depend on Dan's schedule._

After Dan finished talking to his supervisor, he saw what his best friend was doing on his phone. "Hey! Are you doing what I think you're doing? Leave Alice alone!"

"Dan, you don't understand. There are a lot of things between Alice and me that need to straighten out, and it's not helping when she doesn't want to talk. All of you tell me to leave her alone, but how can I when she's avoiding the facts and being equally irrational?"

His visitors were at the loss for words and simply glanced at each other. Dan stepped outside to answer a call, while Runo sighed again. "I don't know what kind of fate got us all in this mess, but I agree with you about how Alice need to face this situation too."

The brunette returned from outside and reported, "Chan said that I can go on air on Monday, but I need to see her in person at some point because I can't reveal too much before the police release an official statement."

"I'll go on Monday as well," Shun replied swiftly.

"Um...sure. That was fast," Runo gasped. "I'll tell Dylan as soon as possible."

The raven-haired student went back to checking his phone. _Previous attempts to get Alice to speak up didn't work, and that music file only made insane. Going on-air on Monday may be my last chance to get her attention._ He put his phone away in his jacket and felt something metallic in the pocket. _I still have Alice's bracelet from last Friday. I can probably get her to talk when I return this to her._

 **-x-x-x-x-x-**

 _What on earth was he_ _ **thinking**_ _when he ran after me across the street?_

Alice was scratching her wrist inexplicably, but then dropped a pen by accident after seeing a shadow cast over her desk. "Julie! You scared me."

"My bad! But that's kind of hard to avoid when you were deep in thought about something else. I know Monday mornings are hard to deal with, but maybe try drinking coffee to keep you awake. I notice that you only drink plain ice water every morning."

"You noticed that?"

"You've been here for a couple weeks now. By the way, you're on air soon."

"What?! Let me get ready!" The redhead quickly grabbed her papers and entered the recording room, but wasn't expected to see two additional guests at the tables. "What the—"

"Alice, you're **late** ," scolded Dylan. "Dan and Shun have been waiting for five minutes now."

"Sorry." Alice took the seat closest to the door. Next to her was Dylan, then Dan, and finally Shun. Because the table was a semi-circle shape, the redhead was sitting directly across the raven-haired student with a perfect view of other, much to her dismay. _Was it really that necessary to invite these two over for a pointless discussion?_

 _She's avoiding eye contact,_ Shun noticed. _If going on-air won't make her talk, then I'll have to find her after the show is over._

Dylan turned the music off and spoke into his microphone. "This is your one and only host welcoming you all back for another episode of 'Down with DJ Dylan'! Today, I'd like to talk about a recent major case that Bayview Police is still working on. Along with my lovely co-host Alice Gehabich, I also have fellow guests Daniel Kuso and Shun Kazami beside me..."

 _I wonder why Dylan didn't invite Billy,_ Alice thought. _Maybe Billy wasn't following this case? But why invite Shun?_

"...Dan is a trainee under the police academy and was one of the officers who was involved in taking down the perpetrator. Dan, can you elaborate more on how all this started?"

The brunette cleared this throat and spoke. "Hello everyone! My name is Dan. We first discovered the vehicle after the driver hit a light pole and sped off. While chasing the vehicle for the first time, our colleagues at headquarters reported that the same vehicle was seen in a different case regarding a homicide. We lost the vehicle the first time, but found it again last Friday, which ultimately led to the driver's arrest."

The redhead twitched and held her hands together tightly. _Homicide...I still can't bring myself to process news like this._

"Homicide, you say? What happened there?"

"Sorry, Dylan. I'm not allowed to disclose that. Nor am I on the team that's solving that case either.

Since Dan couldn't and wasn't allowed to talk about the homicide, Dylan then asked about other miscellaneous details. "Never mind on the homicide then. I heard that there was a male and female crossing the street that made the driver stop. All of Bayview was shocked to hear that perpetrator was taken down so easily like that!"

"That male pedestrian was me," Shun explained. "I came across Alice—the female pedestrian—after leaving campus and was crossing the street with her until that vehicle in question nearly hit us. I ended up staying a night at the hospital because of the injuries, but at least Alice was unharmed."

Alice sent death glares at Shun. _Lies. All lies._

"If you and Alice hadn't been on the street together, I bet that perpetrator would speed through without stopping!" Dylan concluded. "These two are prime examples of good citizens helping the police combat crime! And Alice, aren't you glad that Shun saved your life?"

 _He made that up on the spot! I was trying to escape him!_ Seeing that she couldn't avoid the subject, the redhead sighed and said, "Thanks for protecting me from the reckless driver, **Shun**."

"You know why," he mouthed, barely audible to the audience, but just visible to Alice.

"Actually..." The radio DJ flipped through his notepad and pointed, "It seems like Alice was gone after the vehicle stopped. Where **did** you go?"

 _Great. Who approved of any of this? This is entire episode is completely against me._ "It was a—"

"It was a really messy situation," Shun interrupted, much to Alice's dismay. "I told Alice to run as fast as possible. What if the vehicle didn't stop? I might still be in the hospital. Worse case would be that both us got hurt extremely badly. I didn't want that to happen, especially not for Alice."

 _Shun Kazami, what are you doing?_ "I appreciate all that you did to save me from the vehicle, but—"

"You know exactly how it feels when your life is on the line, right?"

Alice gagged, followed by confused glances from Dylan and Dan. "Excuse me?"

"Speaking of homicide, Alice is the only alive-and-well survivor from the locker room serial homicide three years ago that shocked all of Bayview and nearby cities."

With her hands under the table, the redhead violently scratched her wrists yet tried to control herself. _I can't do this. I need to leave right now._

"Wait. Alice was the mystery survivor of that triple or quadruple murder this whole time?!" Dylan gasped and snapped his fingers. "Alice! Care to spare some details of that—"

"No! Shut up and leave me alone!" Alice threw her headphones down, which hit the microphone and resonated audio feedback through the entire recording room and the office area.

Dylan pulled his headphones off and screamed, "Cut! That was disastrous!"

Dan stared blankly as he watched the redhead run outside. "What were you two thinking?! Be it Friday's situation or the locker room murder form three years ago, she's clearly traumatized and doesn't want to experience either one again."

The radio DJ stood up and shoved his seat. "I was just trying to increase ratings. That was the whole point of inviting you and Shun over—to talk about first-person experiences in reducing crime."

The brunette gasped, then turned around to face Shun, who calmly replied, "I need to find the truth of what happened the day of the homicide."

"Why did I even apply to the police academy in the first place if you're going to find the truth using your own methods?!" screamed Dan before exiting.

 _Maybe I went too far, but how do get Alice to overcome her PTSD?_ Seeing that the episode was over, Shun also left the recording room and approached Alice's empty desk. There was only a laptop, cell phone, wireless mouse, pencil box, and desk lamp. _Her desk is empty to the point where it's scaring me, but it says a lot of her personality too._

Runo returned from outside and bumped into Shun while he exited. "Let me guess. The special episode didn't go as—"

"Did you even hear what he said?! I had **no** idea that Shun would go that far!" screamed Dan again, scaring all the other radio station workers. "But I had no idea that Alice was the only survivor from the locker room murder case that Shiori-san was working on, either."

Julie pulled them over to her desk as Dylan walked by on the way to his office. "Keep it down, you two. Remember, Dylan came up with the idea of going in detail about any random police case just to increase viewership. I don't know what Shun was doing, but he made it worse by giving Dylan an opportunity to dig deeper. He shouldn't take advantage of Alice like that."

Meanwhile, Shun was descending the building in search of Alice. With the elevators all in use, he took the stairs and looked out the window to see Alice running away from the back of the building. _Better find her before she wanders off too far._

At the back alley of the work building, Alice continued running while looking over her shoulder. _Where am I even going? All my stuff is still upstairs._ Then she tripped on a rock, but luckily stopped her fall by holding onto the light post. The redhead tried running again but felt sudden pain in her feet. _What a horrible time to twist my ankle._

"Alice! Wait!"

 _Not him again._ Alice stood behind the light pole as Shun caught up and eventually slowed down. "Get away from me! Why won't you leave me alone? I don't want to think about that incident ever again!"

"I just want to find out the truth—"

"Can't you find another way to do that without harassing me?!"

"Alice, you don't understand. You're the only victim from that multiple homicide who's alive and well—aside from your mental state, of course. Please listen to me. I'm not trying to hurt you."

The redhead stood behind the light post, but otherwise listened to Shun. "Fine. What's there to know?"

"I saw your work desk. It was empty."

"So?"

"You had a lot of friends in college, right? Including the other victims from the locker room murder? How come you don't have any memorabilia on your desk?"

"What are you trying to ask? Putting pictures of my friends on my desk won't bring them back. It'll only remind me of that dreaded day. Besides, I'm still new to Bayview and my new workplace. I haven't had the time to set everything down yet."

"I'm also sure that Runo and Julie sent you welcoming gifts as well. Where did those go?"

"They're at home, because I can see Runo and Julie in person at—" The redhead winced as her ankle throbbed pain again. "Are we done?"

"You want to make new friends, but still can't bring yourself to it because you fear what happened in the past might happen again."

Alice was speechless.

"Because of what happened to my mom, I decided to double-major by adding Psychology to my agenda."

The redhead tightened her grip on the light post and scratched her wrist again. "Talking to your mom during mandatory appointments didn't help. What makes you any different?"

"I want to help her complete what she left unfinished. I'm not a licensed psychologist like her. Maybe we can talk as peers on the same level of understanding, so that you won't feel as pressured as when you were in a doctor-client setting with my mom."

 _It won't make a difference,_ Alice thought.

The raven-haired student walked closer and took out a metallic bracelet. "You dropped this last Friday after the driver stopped his vehicle suddenly. I can tell you scratched your hands all day—and probably all weekend—over your missing bracelet because your left hand is very inflamed."

Alice took the bracelet back quickly and clasped it onto her left wrist. Each of the five bracelet charms featured a certain letter from the alphabet imprinted onto different shapes. "This is all that I have left of my friends who died or got hurt from the locker room murder."

Shun stared at the bracelet's charms. _Five charms, five letters, five girls? One charm has the letter_ _ **A**_ _, so the other letters must stand for names of her other friends._

The redhead let go of the light post and rubbed her inflamed skin. "Can you really help me?"

Taken aback by Alice's sudden change in attitude, Shun simply replied, "I promise."

Suddenly, they both looked up as their eyes met again. Their hearts didn't race as fast as the first time they met at Runo's party. Rather, they both felt calm and at ease.

Then Shun stepped forward, pulling Alice in for a hug. _I might have calmed Alice down and gained her trust, but how will I approach her trauma? I've been thinking way too much about what Mom left unfinished in the past that I haven't thought about what to do in the future._

Alice stood still, unsure of how to react to Shun's warmth and company, but she soon felt her heart racing again. _Can I trust Shun to open old wounds and dig up the past? I myself still don't know what even happened that day. What if he goes too far?_


	4. Momentary Relapse

_Another day came and went..._

As the elevator doors opened, Alice unexpectedly saw a tall man with silver-blue hair dressed in a purple suit standing in her way. "Good afternoon, Miss Alice. You came down early today."

"Hello Klaus," answered Alice, much to her dismay. "Doesn't the real estate office need—"

"Yes, but I'm on lunch break right now. Care to dine with—"

"I need to run an errand, so goodbye!" Before Klaus could say another word, Alice rushed onto the corner of the street. _He's been coming by the work building ever since I began working here._ After crossing some streets, she arrived at a diner and stepped inside."Mr. Misaki, Mrs. Misaki, I'm here!"

"Alice! Good to see you!" A woman with blue hair tied in a ponytail greeted the redhead guest. "Are you enjoying Bayview?"

A tall man with brown hair wearing a stained apron leaned out of the kitchen door. "Just give us a couple more minutes, Alice! We're still adapting to online ordering."

"Take your time! I'm getting used Bayview, Mrs. Misaki. It's been a month now, and my job at the radio station is getting tougher as well, since I'm no longer a new—"

"Is my order done yet?!" A loud masculine voice echoed throughout the diner. Everybody turned to face a bald, muscular man with his arms crossed. "I placed a telephone order to avoid waiting for my order, but I still don't see it!"

"I heard you, Julio, " Saki replied calmly. "It takes time to process **all** the modifications you requested, you know. Komba, where are you?"

A short boy with curly brown hair adjusted his baseball cap and apron. "Yes, ma'am?"

"Go check on Order 756. I need—"

Suddenly, tall woman with dark green hair in a high ponytail barged through the door while still talking on the phone. "Can you all shut up now? I'm inside already!" She cut in front of Alice and sneered. "Do you mind? If you're not here to order, then move away."

"But I was here first!"

"Sellon, this young lady ordered already," Saki defended. "Anyway, how may I help you?"

"Just here to place the usual order for **those** kids. I originally agreed to be a nanny so I could stay in one place, but now they all receive tutoring from that center down the street, so now I need to be available **all** the time."

"Tutoring? What did the kids do now?"

"If **only** they earned all A's on their progress reports, then they wouldn't **need** tutoring. Then **I** wouldn't need drive around and pick everyone up. Kids these days have it way too easy."

"Maybe, maybe not." Saki returned to the kitchen and exited with a take-out container. "Sorry Sellon, but this isn't yours. Alice **did** arrive before you, after all. Here you go, sweetie."

"Thanks, Mrs. Misaki." The redhead paid and ate her food outside after exiting quickly to avoid Sellon's death glare.

"Hey! I haven't seen you before!" called Komba as he exited the back door of the diner to find the Alice. "I'm Komba, by the way. Sorry that Julio and Sellon yelled at you earlier. Mister and Mrs. Misaki are used to their yelling, but it still gets on my nerves."

"Nice to meet you, Komba. I'm Alice. I just moved here and found about this diner after Runo told me about it. Did you start working here recently?"

"I started a couple months ago. How did you know?"

"You said yourself that you still weren't used to their yelling. Julio and Sellon don't look like new customers, either." Alice's phone beeped, prompting her to end the conversation. "I need to go. See you next time, Komba!"

"Bye Alice!"

Alice walked around some street corners before reaching the main road. Not too far from her was Shun, who leaned against his motorcycle while checking his phone. _It's okay, Alice. You can do this._ "Hi."

"Alice!" He faced her and waved, much to her surprise. "I specifically took time off to meet you today."

"Oh?" The redhead kept her hands together and looked away. "Sorry if I got in the way of—"

"I'm only missing a weekly Q&A session. Nothing to worry about."

"I see. So...why do you need to see me today?"

"Why did **you** agree to see **me** today?"

Alice flustered immediately. "You said you had something urgent..."

"Then get on." Shun unhooked two helmets on the back of his motorcycle and handed one to Alice. "I won't take too much of your time."

"Alright." _What am I getting myself into?_

After a ten-minute drive, Shun and Alice arrived at one of Bayview's harbors. The raven-haired student got off first and removed his helmet. "We haven't formally met. Your bad memories always got in the way every time we see each other."

The redhead also got off, removed her helmet, and walked up to the railing by the edge of the bay. "I know Shiori-san is your mother, and you know that I'm the only survivor from that serial murder three years ago. Most the friends I met here are also friends with you. What else is there to know?"

"You."

Alice blinked. "What about me?"

"Mom had no reason to tell you about me, so I was surprised when you immediately knew who I was. I understand that you moved here to escape, but why now? Why not earlier?"

"Things take time. I mainly wanted to escape the campus itself. I wouldn't have moved to Bayview if Aunt Clara hadn't bought a house here, or if my former workplace hadn't gone bankrupt." Alice looked to the side and saw Shun also staring into the sea. _He's not that scary...now that he's not pressuring me._ "What about you? What did you do after your mother passed away?"

"I was devastated. She was the closest relative I had. Mom loved her career as a psychologist and spent her time helping those in need. I changed my academic path to follow her footsteps. Mom really wanted to close that locker room murder case, but died because of a hit-and-run. If you don't mind, can you tell me more about what happened that day during the murders?"

Alice grabbed her charm bracelet tightly and asked, "You **really** think you can help me?"

"There's no going back now."

 _He's right. I can't let a traumatic event like that hold me back forever._ "There were five of us—Taylor, Mira, Chris, Soon, and me. The incident happened during Fall semester. Taylor, Mira, and I were sophomores. Chris and Soon were freshmen. We were all majoring in music therap. After that incident, I changed my major to speech language pathology because I couldn't bear touching my instrument again. I work as a radio host now, hoping to brighten up people's days." Suddenly, Alice felt nauseous and grabbed her arms. "It's happening again. I can't forget..."

"Take it easy. Just look at the water and hold onto the railing," instructed Shun. Once Alice calmed down, he continued talking. "I know you miss your friends, but thinking of them still reminds you of the incident that left you alone. Mom said that this case has a lot of holes, and I want to help her find out why the perpetrator—"

"Don't ever mention Lync Volan to me ever again!" Alice screamed and fell to the ground, hands on her ears while leaning against the railing. "I don't know why he did it. I don't **want** to know why he did it. It's all his fault!"

"I'm sorry..." The raven-haired student knelt and gently held Alice's hand that wore the charm bracelet. "I wanted to ask if you could take me around your former school to retrace your steps, but maybe next time."

"I... I don't know if I bring myself to it," Alice muttered.

"I'll be with you every step of the way."

 _Why does he want to find out so much? Is there really something more to that murder than revenge?_ "I...I'll let you know when I'm ready."

"Thanks, Alice." _One step closer..._

Shun smiled and pulled Alice in for a hug, and the two enjoyed the sound of gentle sea waves that hit and retreated from the shore.

 **-x-x-x-x-x-**

While sitting on a stool by the bar counter, Dan crossed his arms and complained, "Shun's been acting very weirdly lately."

Sitting next to him was Runo, who took a large sip of her honey grass jelly drink. "As my parents would say—it's as if he experienced a 360-degree change in—"

"I'm sure it's fine." Both Dan and Runo looked up as a young man with sandy blond hair came over a damp towel. "Owning and running this bubble tea bar helps me catch up with current events, yet I miss out on other details."

The brunette consumed his bubble tea and noted, "Joe, you have it easy here—receive orders, concoct drinks, serve customers, and count money. I'm dealing with rigorous police training **and** an annoying housemate who likes being on both ends of some emotional spectrum each day."

"College is stressful, Dan. Give Shun a break."

"How come you didn't continue studying, Joe?" asked Runo.

"I had issues at home, so I couldn't stay in college for that long. I didn't get very far, but I don't mind running this bubble tea bar. It's a great way to talk to customers about what's on their minds, like how you two are ranting about Shun right now."

"I think Shun likes Alice," Dan blurted. "I can see—"

"Shut up!" Runo smacked the back of the brunette's head. "That's not happening, not after all the crazy things he did to her. Joe hasn't met Alice yet, right?"

"I haven't. I was working on the day of your welcoming party. I don't know Alice in person, but I've heard stories from Julie. I still can't believe that she's the only survivor from that locker room murder, aside from the comatose victim. Shiori-san was still working on the case when she died. Shun's probably still not over it. Speaking of Shun—"

Dan finished his drink and slammed the cup on the counter, "He'd better know what he's doing—"

"Who knows what who's doing?" asked a fourth voice.

The brunette turned around and saw Shun walking over to the counter. "Shun, what are you doing here? Don't you have class?"

The bartender chuckled and cleared the table. "Even the most studious students need a break, Dan. Shun, what brings you here?"

The student handed Joe a printed flyer. "Somebody told me to remind you that their professional fraternity is having their collaboration fundraiser with you next week."

"I almost forgot! Thanks, Shun. Do you want to drink—"

"No thanks, I'm in a hurry. Later."

"Beware of some creep who's throwing water balloons at sidewalk pedestrians from building rooftops!" Dan suddenly exclaimed.

Runo glared at her tablemate immediately. "Did you have **nothing** better to say?"

"But it's true! Chan told me that someone's playing water balloon pranks. Nothing wrong with warning my best friend, right?"

Outside, Shun saw Alice leaning against his motorcycle while looking to the left, the same direction where radio station and the road to Wardington was. The way she stared into nowhere was so calm—the total opposite of her reaction whenever someone brought up the murder case.

Then a slight gust of wind picked up and blew Alice's hair in her face, in which she flinched after one strand got into her eye. "That's hurts..."

 _What am even thinking?_ Shun finally snapped out of his trance and approached the redhead. "All done. Let's go." He unhooked both helmets, but was reluctant to give one to Alice. "Are you sure you're up for this?"

Alice stared at the helmet in front of her, but then grabbed it while nodding. "I'm sure. The only way to overcome my fears and nightmares is returning to my school and recall all that I can. Thanks for coming with me, Shun."

"Anything for you to get better," he replied, just before driving off.

Wardington School of Integrated Health Sciences, or WSIHS for short, was a special university that offered accelerated and blended undergraduate plus graduate-professional course pathways for students who wished to pursue a career in health sciences. The most popular disciplines were pharmacy, physical therapy, music therapy, and speech language pathology. Additionally, WSIHS was an open campus, meaning anyone could visit most areas without a student ID or guest pass.

"I haven't set foot on campus in so long..." whispered Alice, staring at the buildings in front of her from the sidewalk. "Despite that incident, I kept myself together and did everything necessary to graduate early, even though I changed my major."

"Because this place gives you bad memories?" Shun asked, walking up behind the redhead.

"Exactly. I used to look at everything here and not feel anxious before graduating, but coming back now after graduation makes me so uncomfortable."

"Maybe because you knew you needed to graduate, which is why you could stand being here. Now that you're out, you don't need to be here anymore, so your mind wants to reject this place."

"Maybe..." Alice walked and approached the bottom of some stairs that descended from a second-floor door. "This was where we first saw Lync. My friends and I just finished practicing for a recital. We were minding our own business when Taylor bumped into Lync at the bottom of the stairs. She yelled at him loudly because he nearly hit her cello. Then Mira chimed in against Lync, but I insisted that we all stop arguing and proceed to our next destination."

"Did Lync retaliate? What was he doing?"

"We later found out that Lync was a general handyman on campus. Taylor and Mira were intimidating him, thus I apologized to him for their behavior afterwards. He apologized as well before I left." Alice then led the way to one of the theaters. "One time, we were practicing in this theater and saw Lync outside. Someone drew graffiti on the wall back then. Chris and Soon immediately thought that Lync did it and called campus security."

"It seems like everyone except **you** were mean to Lync early on. What happened after security came over?"

"Taylor insisted that Lync be fired, but the school administrators determined that Lync wasn't responsible, so he stayed. After that, he wasn't so calm anymore." The redhead walked around and showed Shun a shortcut between the theater and the fabric arts department. "We sent our recital dresses here for tailoring and dry-cleaning. After picking up the dresses, we saw Lync hitting the shrubs with a broom. Taylor accused Lync of stalking us, but then he said that he was killing snakes in the bushes, and we all ran away immediately."

 _This violent, snake-killing Lync isn't anything like the initial report that Mom wrote on him. What caused this sudden change in character?_ "Are there really snakes on campus?"

"I don't think so. I've seen salamanders, but those are harmless..." Alice's voice trailed off as she walked off slowly and ascended the stairs to somewhere. "Then it came to this..."

Shun ascended the stairs and realized what he was looking at. "Alice, this is the female locker room."

"And also where I saw him for the last time..."

She approached the door and tried to open it, but her hand froze in place. Her heart raced fast as the nightmares came back to haunt her. "Everything was going perfectly... We just finished a recital at the courtyard... I showered first, but then..."

"When did you first realize that something was wrong?"

"By the time I finished packing, he...he...he just..."

"What exactly did Lync do?"

"He stabbed them all...in front of...aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!"

The redhead shoved Shun aside and ran away. The raven-haired student stood up and looked around. _Where did Alice go? She couldn't have gone far, but I don't know my way around this campus._

Minutes later, a female student ran out of a restroom and yelled, "Help! There's an unconscious girl in the stall!"

 _Don't tell me that's—_ "Excuse me! Can you get everyone else out of there?!" Shun requested. After more girls came outside, Shun ran inside and saw a broken shards on the ground. _What the—_

He pieced the shards together and recreated a flower vase. _I'm missing a piece..._ He opened all the stall doors quickly and finally saw the unconscious girl.

Alice lied on the floor, leaning against the back wall. On the resting toilet cover was her arm, with the wrist cut and bleeding. The missing vase piece was in Alice's other hand, completely stained with blood.

Her face was eerily calm and pale. A slight wind entered the vents and blew Alice's orange hair around.

Shun applied pressure on Alice's slit wrist and called the ambulance, but still couldn't believe what he was seeing. _Why did you cut yourself, Alice? Don't you want to prove that this serial murder won't get the best of you?_


	5. Seeing Red

Wardington School of Integrated Health Sciences was closer to Bayview City Hospital than Wardington Central Hospital, so Alice was taken back to her current city of residence.

After receiving the news, Runo rushed to the hospital and saw Shun waiting outside. "Shun Kazami, this is all your fault!" she screamed while grabbing and shaking her friend violently by his shoulders. "Why did force her to do this?!"

"I **didn't** force her." The raven-haired student waited until Runo stopped before talking again. "I was only trying to help her overcome her nightmares."

"Clearly, it **didn't** work."

"If I don't find the truth, then who—"

Suddenly, a nurse exited Alice's room and shushed the two visitors. " **Please** be quiet. Miss Gehabich is awake. You may see her now."

Shun and Runo exchanged glares before entering, but then a young man with pale green hair and lavender eyes rushed in first. "Alice, are you okay?!"

The redhead faced all three visitors slowly, since she was tethered to an intravenous drip. "What are you all doing here?"

"Alice, is that really you?!" asked the rushing visitor. "I haven't seen you in... **ages.** "

Shun whispered to Runo, "Do you know him?"

"No, I don't. However, **both** of you need to **leave**. Nobody is talking to Alice until she gets better." The bluenette rushed in and shoved both guys outside before closing the door.

Shun glanced at the lavender-eyed visitor. "Are you friends with Alice?"

"I was Alice's college classmate. My name's Hydron. I haven't seen her since she graduated early. Who are you?"

 _Not surprised that Alice chose to avoid former classmates._ "I'm Shun, one of Alice's friends in Bayview. How did you know that Alice got admitted to the hospital?"

"She lives in Bayview now? I didn't know—"

"Hydron!" screamed a middle-aged male doctor who pointed to a ward down the hall. "Please return to your rotation shift. Everyone is waiting for you."

"Yes, sir."

Hydron returned to his shift as Shun observed the former's movements.He turned around and tried to look through the windows, but Runo closed the blinds. Shun faced the hallway again and saw a familiar brunette. "Dan, what are you doing here?"

"Chan sent me here to obtain a victim statement. Remember when I said that someone was throwing water balloons from rooftops? Now they're throwing paint can lids, so today's victim came here with a bleeding forehead. What are you doing here?"

"Just...waiting for someone," Shun lied. _If I tell Dan about what happened today, then he and Runo will lecture me on unnecessary things again._ "Good luck on your case."

"Thanks. See you later."

 _Such a weird sequence of events in the hospital today._ Shun unlocked his phone to read pictures of his mother's notes. _Something's missing. Mom's notes say that Lync was a gentle and calm person who wouldn't hurt anyone. Alice's recollections say that Lync escalated from receiving aggression to becoming the aggressor. Both statements are describing two different people_ _ **and**_ _subject to flaws, so what do I trust?_

 **-x-x-x-x-x-**

Despite checking out a few days ago, Alice returned to the hospital for follow-up and was about to leave when a voice called her. "Alice! Wait up!"

"Hydron? What are you doing here? Are you still attending WSIHS?"

"Yes, but this my last year. Bayview City Hospital is one of the sites where I practice for my physician assistant rotations, which I just started. It's nice to see you again after...yeah."

"I remember you said you were a pre-PA student. I can't believe three years already passed. Congratulations on securing your spot in a competitive program."

"Well, I was a pre-PA student after all, so entrance into the physician assistant program is 99% guaranteed." Hydron looked around and asked, "Your friend Shun isn't here today?"

"You met him already?"

"He was here a couple days ago. We both wanted to visit you, but some bluenette with pigtails dragged us out. That was rude, but I understand since you just woke up at the time."

 _That's right... I was visiting my school with Shun when I ran off and—forget it. Hydron must be talking about Runo._ "I know who you're talking about. I didn't want anyone to pick me up today." She checked her watch and gasped. "I'll be late for my afternoon work shift. Good luck on your rotations."

"Bye Alice! It was nice seeing you again!"

The redhead left the hospital quickly and crossed many streets. _Why does Hydron have rotations in Bayview just after I moved here? I thought I would never have to see anyone from school ever again._ She finally reached the lobby of her work building and was about to press the elevator button when someone stepped in front of her. "Klaus?!"

He bowed before her and commented, "I see that you have returned. Would you like—"

"I need to go back to work."

"Miss Alice, did it **ever** occur to you that someone with your standards should working at somewhere else...better than **this** radio station?"

Alice gasped and glared at the unwanted visitor. "Do you mind? I enjoy being a radio co-host and interacting with the audience." The elevator opened, and the redhead rushed inside immediately. " **You** need to go back to work instead of bothering **me**."

"I'm serious! Who cares if—"

 _Can he just shut up already?!_ Luckily, the exiting people and closing elevator doors deterred Klaus from chasing after Alice any further. Once the doors opened, she rushed out immediately and entered the broadcasting studio. "Do any of you know Klaus von Hertzon from the real estate office?"

"Alice, you're back!" Runo hugged her friend and then asked, "What about Klaus?"

"The other day, he tried asking me out for lunch. Today, he kept saying that I deserve a better job than **this** place. How rude is that?!"

"I don't believe it either!" screamed Julie while gripping on a stack of papers way too tightly. "His real estate work place is around the corner, but he never comes by this building. I feel bad for you, Alice. How about the three of us go out for lunch?"

"Lunch? Right now?"

A door slammed open as the radio show's host exited office unenthusiastically. "Alice, I placed some more file folders on your desk. Please keep up with your tasks."

"Yes, Dylan." After he returned his office, Alice signed and returned to her desk. "Looks like I can't go anywhere just yet."

"Just because we can't **eat** out doesn't mean we can't get **take** -out..." Julie argued. "Right?"

Runo smacked her forehead. "That was horrible joke, Julie. But if Alice wants to, then I wouldn't mind either."

The redhead stared at her work desk and nodded. "Why not? I could use another break."

The three employees grabbed their belongings and descended the elevator to the first floor. Runo exited first and saw a familiar face on the sidewalk. "Dan? I thought you were at the police academy."

"I am, but I'm working with Chan today..."

Dan sheepishly stepped aside as Chan walked past Runo to see Alice. "Are you Alice Gehabich?"

"I am. What's wrong?"

"Bayview Police would like your help in an ongoing investigation, especially since you had verbal altercations with some victims."

Everyone gasped, and Alice gripped her bracelet tightly. _Why is this happening again? What have I even done since moving here?_

In the interrogation room, Chan and Dan sat on one side while Alice sat across from them. "I still don't know what's happening," Alice muttered.

Chan flipped her notepad and read, "On Tuesday at 2:30PM, somebody hit Sellon with a paint can lid from above outside. This may or may not be related to the other water balloon pranks that we've seen. Witnesses saw nobody, but others recall hearing you and Sellon arguing over at the Misakis' diner. Where were you at that time?"

"I...have an alibi."

"Which is?"

Alice grabbed her wrist tightly and covered her scar tissue with the bracelet. "I was at Wardington School of Integrated Health Sciences...and later got into an accident." _Please stop asking me about where I went. That was a horrible day._

"Can anyone verify that?"

"I was with Shun..."

The police madam tilted her head, but Dan whispered, "I don't know about going to WSIHS, but Runo did say that Alice stayed in Bayview City Hospital for a couple nights. Plus, I trust Shun."

"You can check the hospital logs then." Chan continued flipping pages and read, "On the previous Sunday at noon, somebody hit Julio Santana **three** large water balloons simultaneously. Again, people said you two had an angry conversation at the Misakis' diner. Where were you at that time?"

"I was at Bayview Harbor."

"Can anyone verify that?"

After a long pause, Alice muttered, "With Shun... **again**."

Chan shook her head lightly, and Dan whispered again. "He's a close friend of mine. I don't think he's suspicious."

"You know what? I need someone else to do this. Billy, get in here!" After Chan screamed into her radio, the blonde trainee knocked and stepped inside. "Billy, go find Shun and get his statement to confirm his and Alice's whereabouts during these two dates and times."

"Yes, madam."

After Billy left, Chan wrote more notes before closing her notepad. "Do you personally know these two victims at all?"

"I **don't**. I ordered take-out for the first time at the Misakis' diner that day. Julio suddenly came in and screamed at Mrs. Misaki. All the customers were annoyed. I was waiting for my order to finish when Sellon entered and cut me in line, and I told her that I was here first. That day was my first and only time seeing them."

After Dan recorded Alice's statement, he handed it to Chan, who read every single word. "Good job, Dan. Alice, if everything is written correctly, then please sign and date here.

The redhead nodded and read every sentence before signing. "Thank you. Sorry that I couldn't be of more help."

Chan escorted the redhead outside to the hallway. "At least you told us that Sellon and Julio were being rude and impatient customers. I don't know how Runo's parents put up with that behavior...or how Runo puts up with Dan."

"What's that supposed to mean?!" the brunette screamed.

"It means you need to step up. I put in 110% effort and became the youngest police madam sworn into service **and** to oversee trainees like you."

Alice sighed and exited the police station. _At least I know how to handle police interrogations well enough now. Even with Shiori-san sitting next to me back then, I still couldn't handle it._ She reached the sidewalk and saw Shun standing by a tree. "Billy **did** go to find you."

"I was on break and in the area anyway. Runo and Julie returned to work after lunch."

"Lunch?!" The redhead buried her face in her hands. "Julie suggested that we go out for lunch, but then Dylan said that I need to catch up on my work. Just when we reached the first floor, Dan and Chan came and took me here to for interrogation. I'm not in the mood to do anything except—"

She tripped but made no effort to stop her fall until Shun and caught her. "Alice, look at yourself. Who knows if you'll pass out again if you go straight back to work?"

"There's a **lot** that needs my attention..."

"Since you insist...I'll walk you back." Shun ran ahead and hit the crosswalk button first. "I'm sorry that you had to experience this."

"Shun, it's not your fault. I had nothing to do with Sellon and Julio—"

"Not that." He grabbed her left wrist and faced the palm up. "I'm sorry about taking you back to WSIHS and making you cut yourself. It's my fault that you missed a few days of work."

"It's still not your fault." After the light turned green, Alice pulled her hand back and walked first. "I couldn't control myself. Even though I avoided and often refused to cooperate during appointments with Shiori-san, things could've been different if she were still here for me to finish my therapy."

"Alice, I know you moved here to escape old problems, but that doesn't mean new problems won't happen, such as this person that's throwing stuff from rooftops. I know you're not over your friends' deaths, but what happened to Sellon and Julio has nothing to do with your past."

"But it **does**." The redhead stopped walking and turned to faced Shun with heavy breaths. "I was only person who was nice to Lync. He ended up stabbing all of us, but I survived, and another is still comatose." She grabbed her scarred wrist and bracelet and looked around frantically. "What if I ignored Lync instead? Maybe he wouldn't have followed us if none of us—"

"That's still has nothing to do with the present. I don't know Lync very well, but treating him nicely unlike your four friends might have stopped him from doing more dangerous things."

"What if he was just taking advantage of my kindness so he could get rid of all of us?!"

 _Alice is becoming more and more unstable._ "At least you're still here...but nobody will know why he did that. Mom couldn't get him to talk. Other evaluating staff made no progress either. You're the only one who knows anything about him."

"But I don't want to think about it. Why can't I just live peacefully here?"

"Okay...forget about Lync." The two of them crossed the street as Shun asked, "Also, who's Hydron? He seemed very excited to see you at the hospital the other day."

"Hydron...was Taylor's boyfriend."

The raven-haired student stopped walking for a moment. _This is more complicated than I thought._ "Was he friends with **all** five of you, though?"

"He wasn't that close, since he was in the pre-physician assistant program. Taylor was the only one in the group who was dating. Sometimes he stopped by during lunch. He recently said that he was in Bayview for third-year rotations."

"You don't have negative feelings about him?"

"Well...I **am** the only person who survived and recovered. Sometimes he asked how I was doing if we saw each other on campus. Otherwise, I didn't socialize much ever since. I have nothing against him, but I don't think he's over Taylor's death, either."

"Wouldn't practicing in a hospital remind him of the past too?"

"Maybe...even me staying in the hospital for a few nights reminded me of the past, let alone him practicing there for the whole semester or school year with—" Alice's eyes widened and pointed somewhere. "What's Klaus doing here?"

Shun faced where Alice was pointing and saw a tall man with silver-blue hair and dressed in a lavender suit. "I don't know who that is."

"I've been avoiding him since returning to work earlier. Klaus, leave me alone!"

"Miss Alice, there you are!" The real estate worker rushed over and grabbed Alice's arm. "With your skillset, you would make a great addition to our team at—"

"Shut up!" screamed the redhead as she shoved Klaus away. "You don't know **anything** about me. What makes you think you can change my life when I can't even do that?!" Suddenly, she lost her balance but grabbed onto a street pole. "If I'm going back to the hospital again because of you, then you won't see the end of this."

Shun stared at radio co-host while processing her words. _That demanding voice didn't sound like Alice at all. She went from feeling hopeless about the future to swearing payback..._

Klaus fell back a few steps but regained his ground. "I honestly don't think you're suitable to keep working at the radio station after that one broadcast. You need another job that won't remind you of—what is that?!"

As he looked up, a shadow casted quickly on Klaus's forehead until a large brick landed on his head, causing him to fall over and blood to splatter everywhere—including Alice's hands.

She stared at the red specks on her skin and trembled. _Not again... Back then, it was only my blood all over me when Lync stabbed me_ _ **and**_ _when I cut myself, but this? It's not even my business, yet my hands still get stained with someone's else's blood._

"Alice, are you okay?!"

Her friend stood in front of her as she pointed at Klaus with a trembling before fainting. Shun caught her before she the ground. Splattered blood from her hands transferred to his. The raven-haired student observed the blood smears before looking at Klaus's unconscious body. _If Alice and I stood any closer, we could've been hit instead._ He wiped the blood away and took out his phone. _Whether this has to do with the escalated water balloon pranks, I need to call an ambulance._

Shun stared at the redhead momentarily as the call connected. _The blood, the shock, the unconsciousness...is this what Alice went through in the locker room three years ago?_


	6. A Push in Both Directions

Dan and Chan quickly arrived at the scene after receiving Shun's call and chased up the supposed building where the brick might've fallen from. The trainee officer kicked the door to the roof and scanned the area. "Chan, there's no one here!"

His supervisor leaned over and saw other colleagues setting up. "At least backup's here. Let them find other witnesses while we go talk to Alice."

On the way downstairs, Dan asked, "Didn't we **just** interrogate Alice earlier today? And this has to do with the mystery thrower **again**."

"It's better to have us to interrogate her than someone that has no clue about earlier today. Klaus is unconscious from being hit by a brick, and Alice probably fainted from seeing that right in front of her. Want to follow me to the hospital?"

 _The only difference between Chan and Shun right now is that Chan follows procedures while Shun follows instinct._ "Sure, I could use the learning experience."

At the hospital, Shun waited outside Alice's room and stared at the ground. Hydron stopped by and pointed at the room door. "You're Shun, right? What brings you here?"

 _So this is Hydron—also Taylor's boyfriend._ "Nice to meet you, Hydron. Alice and I were out in the streets when she saw something traumatic and fainted."

"Fainting from trauma...that's a lot to handle in the span of one week. You were with her at that time? Come to think of it, Alice didn't tell me where she met you. I'm a former classmate."

"Alice and I...have a lot of mutual friends. That's all." _I have no reason to tell him that my mom was working on Alice's case back then._

The door opened as a nurse stepped out. "Miss Gehabich is awake now. You may visit her."

The two students exchanged glances before stepping inside but were welcomed by a shocked expression on the redhead's face. "Get away from me!"

Suddenly, Chan arrived and knocked on the door. "Hope I'm not interrupting! Dan and I would like to take Alice's statement...again." While walking across the room, she whispered to Shun, "You can stay if you think it will make Alice feel more at ease."

Hydron checked his phone and approached the door. "Sorry, I need to answer this call outside."

Alice finally calmed down and nodded. "I'll tell you everything I can recall to the best of my ability."

Chan pulled up a chair while Shun and Dan stood behind her. "Can you please tell me everything from the beginning when you first encountered Klaus to the moment that you fainted?"

"When I arrived this morning for work, Klaus stopped me at the first-floor elevator to talk about illogical things. Later, I was leaving the building for lunch when you took me in for the first interrogation. After that, Shun was walking me back to the station when Klaus showed up again and repeated the same illogical topics from this morning. Then he stopped talking and looked up to see a brick falling onto his head. Some blood splattered on me and I—" Alice gripped the blanket tightly and trembled. "—just passed out. I can't unsee it."

The female officer wrote everything and let the redhead see the notepad. "If everything's written correctly, then—"

"I know—sign and date." After that, Alice leaned back on the pillow and pulled the covers. "I want to sleep."

"I'll close the door on my way out." As the trio stepped outside, Dan handed Shun's statement to his supervisor. "That was fast. When did you record this?"

"Shun and I stepped to the side and just talked. He didn't know who Klaus was until today at the streets."

"Either way, thanks for completely this quickly. So far, the other two victims have been to the diner, but not Klaus."

"He's too snob to go there," Dan remarked. "Shun, I'll see you later. We need to check on Klaus's status."

"Stay safe." The raven-hair student turned and saw a blond woman rushing over. "Are you Alice's aunt? She's inside."

"You must be Shun. Thanks for letting me know!"

Shortly after, Hydron approached the area after finishing his call. "Is Alice alright?"

"She and I just gave our witness statements to the police. Alice said she wanted to sleep, so I left, but then her aunt just came."

"Always nice to have family around."

Shun immediately gave the PA student a side-eye glare. "Always better than nothing. Good luck on rotations." He made his way out of the hospital and pondered. _I never liked his tone of voice to begin with. Alice's mental and physical state makes her vulnerable to everything._

Hydron shrugged his shoulders and returned to the hallways until he bumped into someone. "Katie, what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in the pharmacy?"

The creamy-blond girl crossed her arms. "So pharmacy technicians can deliver medications, but an intern pharmacist can't? Get real. What are **you** doing here? Lunch breaks aren't that long."

"I was visiting an old friend. Isn't the medication cabinet on the other side of this hallway?"

"Well, I wanted to see a certain friend of mine that works in this department first." She giggled and then held out a small intravenous bag. "This is a controlled medication. I need you to be my computer witness when I place this into the cabinet."

"Wonderful. I hate narcotics."

Hydron read the label and led the way as Katie followed, not before she looked closely at Alice's room number.

 **-x-x-x-x-x-**

Fainting was not as severe as blood loss, so Alice returned to work the next day with no follow-up. Just as she approached her desk, her two closest coworkers walked over. "Runo? Julie? Why are you looking at me like that?"

The bluenette pulled the redhead to the side and whispered, "Are you transferring?"

"What do you mean? I just started here."

"Dylan was screaming unpleasant things earlier," the Australian explained. "and now he's in Anubias's office down the hall on the same floor."

"Uh...be right back." Alice was utterly confused and grabbed all her stuff on her way to Anubias's office. "Sorry for interrupting, but I—"

" **There** she is." Inside the office, Dylan stood up from his chair and dragged Alice's over. "I thought you'd never come back."

"Excuse me? It's not my fault that someone nearly died in front of—"

"That's not important." The silver-haired man placed his palm out to stop Alice from talking. "As general director, I oversee **all** employees in this building. Is it true that another radio station offered a 15% increase based on your current salary?"

"What?! Where are you getting this from?! I've been in and out of the hospital for the past few days and—"

"Enough. Hospital visits aren't cheap. I'll give you **both** a 25% raise. End of story. Out of my office, please."

Dylan left first and waited at the elevator without even going back to the office studio. The doors opened, but Alice blocked her co-host's path. "Dylan, what was **that**? I never thought about switching to another station."

"Alice, it's a win-win. We **both** stay at this station **and** get paid more now. You should be happy." He walked forward and brushed against Alice on purpose before entering the elevator.

The redhead returned to her desk and leaned into her chair. Runo and Julie asked frantically, "What happened?!"

"Dylan lied about me considering another station so that Anubias can increase our pay by 25% to keep me here. Anubias won't believe what I say because he thinks I need more money to cover recent hospital costs. He doesn't understand—nobody does!" Alice flipped through the folders on her desk and groaned before laying her head down.

Runo and Julie backed off and went out into the hallway. "When was the last time we got a raise?" the bluenette asked. "Alice already gets paid more than us because she speaks on air, but what was Dylan thinking?"

The Australian shook her head. "It's not her fault, and hospital bills have nothing to do with this. Dylan probably wants the raise because the audience likes Alice more than him. He's been...acting weird on air lately."

"Keep this to ourselves for now. I don't want Dan or Shun getting involved."

"My lips are sealed."

 **-x-x-x-x-x-**

"Sweetie, I'm working overtime tonight. You don't need to wait for me for dinner."

Alice signed after answering her aunt's call. "I'll be fine. See you tonight." She looked around and saw the Misakis' diner a few meters ahead of her. _Do I want to try again?_

She shook her head and continued walking until someone rushed out the back door. "Alice! Good to see you again!"

"Hi Komba. Going on delivery?"

"Setting up my bicycle for now. I don't know what's taking Mrs. Misaki so long on the phone. Did you want to order something?"

"It's okay. Do you mind if I talk to you for now?"

"Of course not!" The diner employee leaned his bike against the wall. "What's wrong?"

"I had a couple hospital visits lately, but I'm better now. Recently, someone's been throwing items from rooftops at people, and I've been interrogated twice for witness statements because I just happened to be there. A senior colleague isn't getting along with me now. The only thing good so far is that Klaus won't be disturbing to the radio workplace now. I should've told Anubias earlier when I was still in his office!"

"Well, good for you. Klaus is always like that."

"You know him?"

Komba sighed loudly and rolled his eyes. "Who **doesn't**? He works in real estate and has too many unnecessary promotions. If he's been bothering your workplace lately, then that explains why he's not annoying the rest of us now—no offense to you, of course. What's he up to know?"

"He got hit by a brick and probably won't leave the hospital anytime soon." Alice let out a slight giggle but quickly stopped. "I can't believe I did that! Even though I don't like Klaus, he's still recovering. I'd better go home."

"Don't go yet!" Komba rushed inside the diner and brought some orders outside. "Do you want cube cheesecake and egg tarts? This order is from a customer that gave Mrs. Misaki a hard time. The customer doesn't want it anymore, but the food's untouched, so—"

"Komba, I really can't! Save it for the next customer that orders these."

"I already told her that you were outside and would likely take this. Egg tarts need to be fresh, and barely anyone orders cheesecake here."

The redhead flustered and nodded. "Thank you for the sweets, then. I owe you a favor."

"Don't worry about it! We're friends, and I want you to enjoy Bayview. Got to go!"

Alice waved goodbye and watched Komba ride off the street before seeing Shun exit the diner's front doors. "What a coincidence. I wasn't expecting to see you here."

The raven-haired student waved a slip of paper in his hand and continued walking. "I was asking Runo's mom if it was okay for a campus organization to fundraise with the diner. What are you doing here? Mind if I come along?"

"Just walking home while it's still bright. Aunt Clara has overtime tonight. This path is supposed to be a shortcut, but I guess I spent too much time talking with Komba earlier."

"About what?"

"Recent things that I went through, such the hospital, interrogations, even Klaus. I knew he worked in real estate but didn't know that he promoted his stuff into people's faces."

"You're not wrong, but it also depends on who the audience is. I asked my classmates about Klaus, and they said he was on campus once to promote places for students to rent off-campus. Too many complaints went to the school **and** the real estate office, so he stopped coming. He won't be bothering anyone for a while."

"Is it bad to think that it's a good thing?"

"Not really. You're just a victim—"

Alice froze and gripped her wrist and bracelet. _It's happening again. I don't want to be the victim anymore._

"—of his endless solicitation." Realizing his mistake, Shun grabbed Alice's hand and pulled her over to look her in the eye. "Alice, it's okay. Klaus needs to reconsider how to attract customers. It has nothing to do with you."

"I just remembered." The redhead double-checked the box of egg tarts and handed it all to Shun. "Weird offer, but do you want these egg tarts? Somebody gave these to me from the diner."

"Uh...I don't mind, but **why**?"

"Back in college, Hydron used to bring half a dozen egg tarts went he visited the five of us. I liked eating them, but now they remind me of—"

"I'll take it." Shun took the box out of Alice's hands. "What's in the other box?"

"That's cheesecake. Aunt Clara loves it, so I'll save it for her. She deserves it after working overtime." The pair arrived at the end of the block, and Alice hit the crosswalk button. "Shun, if you need to go home, then you don't need to come with me. Even though I gave you the egg tarts because **I** don't like them, I think you deserve it for getting me to face the past. Dylan and I had a heated argument earlier about employee pay, but I'm tired and don't want to think about it. See you tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? For what?"

"Nothing really. We both live in this area of Bayview, so it wouldn't be a surprise if we see each other around. Drive safely." Alice waved her friend goodbye and crossed the street.

Shun opened the box again and counted exactly six egg tarts. _Overcoming the unintentional bad memories of egg tarts is a minor concern. The fact that she looks forward to seeing me around might mean that she's not afraid of me anymore. Not sure if it has to do with Klaus being hospitalized for a while._

Little did either one of them know that their exchange was seen by someone across the street.

 **-x-x-x-x-x-**

"I'm back." Shun returned to Dan's house and took his shoes off as the brunette leaned back in his swivel chair. "What's got you so focused?"

"Still thinking about the recent water balloon, paint can lid, and brick cases. Chan and I made some interesting discoveries. It appears that a **lot** of people say the victims acted obnoxiously to some degree."

"Are you legally allowed to tell me details of an ongoing investigation?"

"Well...just don't say that it came from me. Besides, you're not an obnoxious person, so I don't think you'll be targeted."

"Define 'obnoxious'."

"Strict parents, strict nannies, rude people, clingy people—you name it! We asked Runo's parents for details since most of the victims go to their diner. Runo's mom said that Alice was chatting with one of the workers when Julio complained about distracted employees. Sellon later came and accused Alice of cutting in line, which was so not true. Surprisingly, Klaus stopped by once to order cheesecake but had too many specific requests and refused to pick up his order after seeing that it came out wrong. He should've ordered **cake** from a **bakery.** Wrong place, man."

Shun set the box of egg tarts on the kitchen counter and wondered. "Did anyone else order cheesecake besides Klaus?"

"Don't think so. You don't get that many unforgettable yet problematic orders...or people."

 _Alice had cheesecake with her, but if Runo's mom doesn't recall Alice placing the order, then where did Alice get it from? Maybe Runo's mom gave both items these to Alice?_ "By the way, here's a box of egg tarts."

"That looks good!" Dan rushed over and immediately stuffed one into his mouth. "It's from the diner!"

"You know that already despite no label on the box?"

"I recognize the taste. Where did you get this from?"

"You just said it's from the diner."

"But Shun, you and your friends never order this. I know you better than you think!"

"Fine. Alice gave the box to me after—"

Immediately, the brunette stepped on a chair and pointed at Shun. "I knew it! You two have been weirdly close together lately!"

The raven-haired student took a bite but set the pastry down. "I'm **still** trying to solve a case that my mom couldn't close. So far, the three things in common between these three specific victims are visiting the dinner, insulting Alice, and acting rudely in general."

"You have a point, but I don't think Klaus and Alice ever saw each other in the diner before."

"He annoys her daily at her workplace. Even Runo and Julie are angry."

"I'll keep that in mind."

Shun continued eating and stared at the messy whiteboard in the living room. _What exactly about 'employee pay' were Alice and Dylan arguing about? And why would she buy or accept these egg tarts if they gave her bad memories?_ He tilted the pastry and watched the reflection on the yellow surface. "Do you think Dr. Brown will let me visit Lync if I requested?"

"Dude, what about you talking about?"

"Mom's notes said that once she was done with her expert witness statement of Lync, Joe's mom—who's Dr. Brown—oversaw Lync's case so that Mom could handle Alice's case...until that traffic accident."

"Shun, are you crazy?! That's the **killer** you're talking about!"

"Aside from him, I don't know who else to talk to."

Dan stuffed another egg tart into his mouth and shook his head. "I can't help you this time. You need to ask Joe about this. Even if you explain your reasoning to him, I don't guarantee that either of them will agree."

"Let's hope they do..."


	7. Not Playing Nice

"Is that what I think it is?! Alice, hold my take-out for me!"

The redhead was walking on the sidewalk when her Australian friend shoved a bulky plastic bag in her arms. "Julie, what are you—"

"Guess whose car **this** is?"

Alice read the license plate. "That's Dylan's car. So what?"

The silver-haired employee took out her housekeys. "He's in **so** much trouble for what he did to you last—"

"Julie, stop! Not in broad daylight!" The radio co-host ran forward and pulled her friend away. "I know you're mad at Dylan for using me, but you can't just deface his car. We should hurry back upstairs. Our lunch will get cold if we don't eat now, and there will be a long line at the microwave at this hour."

"Alice, I won't be so nice next time." Once she arrived at her workplace, Julie immediately greeted her bluenette coworker. "Runo, we got you food from—"

"Read **this**."

The Runo handed a sheet of paper to Julie, who skimmed it from beginning to end. " **This** is the topic for the next discussion session?!"

"What's up?" Alice finally arrived and glanced over Julie's shoulder. "I've never talked about female equality before. I can see why equal pay versus ladies' night prices contradict each other. Runo, who came up with—"

"Alice, welcome **back** to the studio!" greeted Dylan sarcastically. "We go on air in two minutes, so get ready. Hope you like the topic that **I** picked."

The redhead gasped and watched the lead host enter the recording room. "Dylan wants to see how professionally I can handle a sensitive topic **and** if I can still keep my followers after this discussion."

"He probably also wants to see how long you can last without eating lunch," Runo added.

Julie let out a disappointed sigh. "Keep a neutral standpoint. He won't get it **or** last a second."

The co-host nodded and set the food on Julie's work desk. "I hope you're right. I'll eat lunch after broadcast."

After Alice entered the recording room, Dylan cued the technicians to start and proceeded with the opening music and introductions. "Welcome back, everyone! For today's afternoon plans, Alice and I will start a discussion on a widely-debated topic—female equality! This question has been running through my head lately—is it fair to ask for equal pay at work, yet keep ladies' night discounts while dining out at the same time? I'll hand this off to my lovely co-host right here."

The redhead glared at the lead host before answering. "Who else better than me would you ask that question to? But do you know **why** women ask for equal pay or ladies' night discounts?"

"Both are advantageous, but contradict each other."

"Firstly, statistics have shown that women earn less than men despite performing identical tasks at work, hence we ask for equal pay. If women continue to earn less, then many of them almost exclusively eat or hang out when there are ladies' night discounts because of less disposable income than men."

"However, if you really want equality, then you can only ask for one and not both. Either you pay and get paid equally **or** proportionately as men."

"But why **can't** we have both? Don't you know that female physiology costs more to maintain than male physiology. I'm sure my female listeners understand, especially when it comes to **that** time every month."

Julie nearly choked on her pasta. "She did **not** just say that. What happened to staying neutral?!"

"Dylan **was** kind of provoking Alice, but her point is also valid," Runo noted.

Dylan pulled up some other papers on his desk. "What about the studies that say that women on average live longer than men? Wouldn't women end up earning and saving more in the long run?"

"Since the topic is female 'equality', we should discuss more than just the monetary aspects. What about equal opportunity to learn, work, and actively participate in government?" Alice glanced at the clock before concluding. "Let's give our listeners—female **and** male—some time to think before we open the studio's phone and text numbers to accept questions and concerns. We'll see you in a couple minutes!"

Jack hung up his desk phone just before Alice finished talking. "When was the last time we accepted calls and messages from the audience during a live broadcast?"

Rafe shook his head. "We have those options, but Dylan hates using them. I guess Alice want to make things different."

After Alice cued the technicians to play breaktime music, Dylan approached his co-host and asked, "What was that?"

"What do you mean? We're discussing things relevant to the topic that **you** picked."

"You didn't need to open the lines for listeners to share their opinions."

"But it's a great way to get the audience involved. New listeners will start following, and current listeners will stay with us. What's wrong with that?"

Suddenly, the lead host stood up and shook his head. "You want another raise, don't you?"

"Excuse me?!"

"You think you're better than me now and want to go solo! Did you ask for my permission to open the lines for phone and text? I don't **think** so."

"I thought we were **co** -hosts. I have a voice in what we do on air as well."

"No, we're **not**. This show's called 'Down with DJ Dylan', so **I'm** the lead while **you're** on the side."

Alice gasped and saw Julie and Runo pacing anxiously outside. _If not for myself, then at least for them._ "You're right. I should've gone solo a long time ago so that **you** couldn't use me to get **yourself** a raise."

"So you **do** admit that you were looking for a better radio station to work for?"

"I was never looking for a new job after coming here. You wanted a raise, but knew that low audience activity meant no chances. Thus, you lied to Anubias about me wanting to leave so he could keep us here with a raise. I **never** wanted this. Do you know how many people called me 'unprofessional' for seemingly looking for a new job despite barely just starting here?"

"Then you shouldn't have applied to here in the first place because only **my** name is—"

Suddenly, the doors opened as Anubias barged into the recording room and screamed under his breath. "Read your work screen!"The radio hosts looked down and saw words **ON-AIR** flashing on the touchscreen. "Both of you in my office— **now**."

After the three of them entered Anubias's office, Alice spoke first. "This is exactly what I wanted to explain the last time we were all here. Anubias, you wouldn't listen to me, and only believed that Dylan said."

The building director rubbed his forehead in distress and asked, "Dylan, is this true? Alice never wanted to leave?"

"Of course she wanted to leave! Just ask—"

"Dylan wanted a raise for himself, so he lied and dragged me into this so it wouldn't look suspicious," the redhead interjected. "I was never looking for another job."

Anubias took out his phone and scrolled down the radio's webpage. "And this argument just happens to go live shortly after taking a break from talking about 'female equality'?"

"Anubias, don't believe her!" the lead host insisted. "She's only doing this for publicity."

"You're right about that. In fact, this publicity act is **so** successful that people are already asking when Iplan on **firing** you for mistreating and using your co-host for personal gain. Dylan, you're on indefinite unpaid leave now. Alice, you're hosting solo until further notice. Meeting dismissed."

The redhead left quickly, but Dylan still caught up and grabbed her wrist. "Congratulations, your dream came true. Let's see if you can handle this."

Alice pulled Dylan's fingers off her wrist. "You shouldn't have lied your way to a raise to begin with. About the microphones— **you** forgot to turn them off, not me. **You're** the lead host, after all.

"But you purposely said it all, knowing that we were still on air. Well played, Miss Gehabich. Too bad that the audience can't see your true self."

Dylan entered the elevator as Alice approached the studio's front doors. _Everything was going fine. Dylan's only on unpaid leave and might come back. He could've done more if he wanted me out of this station._ Suddenly, she began trembling and gripped her bracelet. _This is between me and him. I can't let Dylan's slander affect everyone else at the station._

 **-x-x-x-x-x-**

After a couple days of hosting by herself, Alice felt more confident on air, but the fear of what Dylan might do next kept her from resting well. Julie knocked on the redhead's desk and broke the redhead out of her trance. "I'm leaving early to drop Runo off somewhere. See you tomorrow!"

"Thanks... Drive safely."

Seconds later, Alice received a message from her aunt. _Aunt Clara is stuck in traffic again..._ She left the studio early and waited at the sidewalk on ground floor. _Klaus should be out of the hospital now, but he hasn't bothered me since the brick incident. Maybe he learned his lesson?_

"Alice, what's up?"

The redhead looked up and saw Komba stop his bicycle in front of her. "Oh, hi. Seems there's been so many deliveries lately."

"Most of the deliveries go to college students. I hope they're not studying too hard. By the way...everyone at the diner heard what happened on-air today. I feel bad that you went through all that."

Alice waved her hand. "I'm fine—really. You should go back to delivering. People say that college students are always starving, you know."

"Oh, good point! Later!"

After Komba biked off, Alice scrolled through her phone until another voice called her. "What are you doing here?"

"Shun?" She closed her phone as the raven-haired student walked closer. "I got off work early, but Aunt Clara is stuck in traffic. Is something wrong?"

"No, but..." He took a deep breath and explained slowly. "I want to speak with Lync."

"What?!" The redhead stepped back in shock and dropped her phone. "You can see you all you want, but don't make me—"

"—go? I'm not asking you to. Joe's mom used to handle part of his case back then, so I need her permission to speak with Lync. I'm letting you know so that you stay updated."

Alice picked up her phone and shook her head. "Everyone that talked to him back then got nothing useful out of it, so why does it matter now? What's done is—"

" **There** you are!" The pair faced the direction of the voice and saw Dylan rushing over. "Alice Gehabich, we have a **lot** unfinished business to take care of. I should've taken advantage of your traumatic past as a surviving victim to hype up the show while—"

"Do you **mind**?" Shun stepped in front of Alice and stopped the unwanted visitor from coming any closer. "You're **suspended** from work. We can sue you for harassment. I don't see anything worth 'hyping' about that."

"Wait...aren't you Shun? You and Dan were here last time!" Dylan laughed hysterically as he recalled the special episode from a while ago. "Didn't you purposely expose Alice's past on-air back then as well? Look at what you're doing now!"

Alice glanced between her friend and the suspended radio host. "Shun, forget about it. I don't—"

Without looking back, the raven-haired student grabbed the redhead's bracelet hand tightly and continued talking. "I exposed her past so she can overcome her fears and face reality. You exposed her past to get publicity for a show that will **never** get anywhere far under **your** lead. Let's go."

"Alice Gehabich, we're not done yet!" screamed Dylan before leaving.

Alice glanced at her former co-host before she stopped walking. "Shun, where are we going?"

"I'm taking you home before Dylan bothers you a second time."

"Well...you don't have to **personally** take me home. We can wait until Aunt Clara—"

"Out of the way!" screamed a female voice. Chan, Dan, and Billy suddenly ran around the corner swiftly past the pair, who also followed by foot. At a certain building, the police madam gave her orders. "Billy, you and I are going up this building to find the suspect. Dan, stay on ground level to protect bystanders."

"Got it!" replied her trainees before performing their respective tasks.

With Dan on ground level, Shun approached his friend and asked, "What just happened?!"

"No time to explain! Someone called and said they saw a person dressed suspiciously and carrying a stuffy plastic bag. I could use your help in preventing—oh no! It's happening already!"

The brunette lunged forward at someone as they both fell to the ground. As a plastic bag hit the ground and splashed odorous liquid everywhere, bystanders stepped back and covered their noses. Shun waved his hand in the air. "This smells like...cooking oil? And it's still **warm**."

"I know this scent..." Alice thought for a moment and snapped her fingers. "The back alley of the Misakis' diner smells like this!"

Dan stood up and stretched his arms before looking at the person he saved. "Oh hey, Dylan! Long time no see!"

The redhead gasped and hid behind Shun, who whispered, "It's okay. He's not here to bother you."

"But he went from harassing me to almost being the victim of hot cooking oil..."

The brunette spoke into his earpiece. "No one's hurt, Chan! The 'weapon' was a bag of warm oil or grease that exploded everywhere. How are you—"

Chan didn't pay attention but finally subdued the suspect. "Hey! Aren't you Komba from the Misakis' diner?!"

"Did you just say 'Komba'?!" asked Dan in shock.

"Komba...?" The diner employee's name echoed in Alice's mind as Chan and Billy later came downstairs with the suspect handcuffed. The two exchanged glances before a police car came to pick everyone up. _But how...and why?_

 **-x-x-x-x-x-**

In the interrogation room, Chan sat across Komba and explained. "As you may know, the common factors between the first three cases involved the victims being at the diner and acting rudely to at least someone else during the visit. What do you have to say about that?"

Komba shrugged and replied, "They were all rude customers. I just wanted to teach them a lesson."

" **Dylan** went to the diner as well?"

"After the radio disaster between him and Alice, he later stopped by the diner for food. Dylan was mean to Mrs. Misaki and other customers in line. Maybe he was still upset about the suspension, but that's no excuse. He brought this onto himself. Please tell me you've heard what he and Alice said on-air too!"

Dan took a seat next to Chan and asked, "Speaking of Alice, does this have anything to do with her?"

"What do you mean?"

"Julio and Sellon outright screamed at her at the diner once. Klaus bothers Alice at work in general. Now Dylan holds a grudge against her because of that incident."

Komba shook his head. "None of it had to do with Alice, but I feel bad about how they all treated her. I'm sure they all have insulted and offended way more mutual people than just Alice. I did all this for for myself...for Mr. and Mrs. Misaki...for Alice...for everyone."

The police madam and trainee exchanged glances before deciding how to continue the rest of the interrogation.

In the police station lobby, Alice paced around as Shun sat down and wrote in his notebook. Chan later came outside with Komba and was about to escort him to another room before Alice ran up. "Komba...are you okay? I still can't—"

"I'm fine, Alice. I wasn't thinking straight and decided to exact revenge onto rude people in the most stupid way. How are you doing?"

"What do you mean?"

"Surprised to find out what I was behind all this?"

"I—um—uh—" Alice sighed and nodded. "You seemed like you're doing fine every time I see you at the diner or during your deliveries. Maybe you're just stressed... What will happen now?"

Chan answered that question. "Unfortunately, we do have to press charges because Klaus was severely hurt. But given Komba's remorse for his actions, I think the judge might understand. I have Dan and Billy filing reports. Got to go."

Alice nodded and watched the two people enter another room before returning to Shun. "All done. Let's go."

The raven-haired student checked his watch and asked, "Is your aunt still picking you up?"

"No, I told her to go home after this incident happened." She opened the door and let Shun exit first. "You don't mind driving me home, do you?"

"Of course not. I don't know Komba well, but I didn't expect him to be the one throwing dangerous objects. At least it's over—" Suddenly, Alice wrapped her arms around Shun's right arm and began trembling. "Alice, what's wrong?"

"Sorry...there was a similar object-throwing situation back in college. We all **nearly** got hit at least once."

Unsure what to make of Alice's sudden recollection, Shun asked, "Do you think it has to do with Lync?"

"I don't know, but many students also nearly **or** actually got hit. It could've been someone else. But today...I never thought Komba would do this."

"Alice, it's okay. Some things are unpredictable. I still think speaking with Lync will provide answers."

The redhead immediately pulled away and touched her face with the back of her hand. "Whatever works for you, then. Which way is your car?"

Shun sighed and led the way. Although Alice walked behind him the whole time, he didn't dare look back at her. _I really need to ask Joe and his mom for permission to see Lync, but is there something that Alice doesn't want me to find out?_


	8. Work Flow Interference

A few days passed, but Alice still couldn't get over everything that happened to her recently. _Komba has community service hours, Klaus doesn't work here anymore, and Dylan—_

Suddenly, the elevator stopped and opened at the thirteenth floor already. _That was faster than usual._ Just as she was about to exit, a metal ladder appeared from nowhere. "What is this?!"

"Did I hit somebody?!" The speaker placed the ladder down and saw a very shocked Alice hugging the elevator door. "I didn't mean—"

"I'm fine! I was just shocked to see a ladder walking by itself." She finally exited the elevator and extended her hand. "I'm Alice."

"I'm Shadow, the maintenance guy." He pulled his glove off and shook the radio host's hand. "You speak on air, right?"

"That's me! I've never seen you around before. The only maintenance technician I've seen is an older man."

"Huh, don't know him. Mister Anubias hired me just recently. I fixed the elevator this morning. Anyway, time for my next task. Nice meeting you, Alice!"

Alice waved the technician goodbye and reported to work, only to see everyone gathered around someone's desk. "Good morning, everyone. What's the occasion?"

"Alice, meet our new coworker!" Julie dragged the redhead over and introduced her to a tall blond guy. "This is Gunz Lazar, the new office assistant. Gunz, this is Alice Gehabich, owner of the lovely voice you hear on the radio!"

The redhead smiled and offered her hand. "Welcome to the work family, Gunz!"

"Thank you!" Instead of returning a handshake, Gunz grabbed Alice's hand and kissed the back of it. "I'm one of your biggest fans! So glad to meet you in person! I look forward to meeting Dylan as—"

Runo cleared her throat very loudly. "He's officially **fired** , meaning that we need to change the name of the show into something better."

"Already fired?! Wow! Ever since that accident on-air, I've heard people call him very nasty things. First he got suspended, and now he's out. I hope he learned his lesson, although I doubt anyone will hire him in the future."

"Wow..." Julie gasped. "You think exactly like we do! Accident or not, his behavior will cost him his job anyway. But his stuff is still here, so he still needs return someday to pack."

 _Accident or not, what's done is done._ Alice looked around the studio and asked, "Do we have any empty desks left over for Gunz?"

Everyone glanced at each other until Runo suggested, "Gunz can use Dylan's old desk since all the tables are around the same—"

"Sounds like a party back here!" All eyes faced the door as Dylan appeared at the double-door entrance. "Was I bothering something? Keep going! I just came back to **pack** since the show is now all **yours** ,Alice."

"I sincerely hope you learned your lesson," was all she said.

"Oh really? Finally showing your true self to everyone now?" As Alice spread her hands to protect her coworkers, Dylan continued walking and purposely shoved the redhead. "You made me lose my job, so I'm going to make you blacklisted from all multimedia!"

Alice only partially stopped her fall and landed on her side quickly, with the pain radiating from her hip to everywhere else. _Not again...the pain...in my stomach... Why can't it just end already?_

Rafe placed his finger under Alice's nose. "Alice looks passed out. Her hands and feet have some scratches. Jack, call an ambulance! Gunz, help me carry her to the elevator!"

"Got it!" replied both employees.

"I'll grab Alice's belongings." Julie rushed over to the redhead's desk and stuffed the most important items into Alice's purse. "Runo, are you coming or staying?"

"I'm staying. I don't trust Dylan alone here."

"Sounds good. Also..." The Australian lowered her voice and asked, "are you thinking what I'm—"

"We are not planning **anything** until you come back from the hospital, especially since Alice told me what you wanted to do with your keys last time."

Julie crossed Alice's purse over her own shoulder and walked backwards out of the studio. "Whatever you say, Runo. I'll keep you updated."

 **-x-x-x-x-x-**

"Do you think she'll agree to it?"

Joe sighed and wiped the bar counter repeatedly in thought. "Shun, this has never occurred to me before. I know my mom performed some psych evals on Lync Volan back then, but I don't think she remembers him that well anymore. It was a short-lived task, so I don't know if she has any say about visiting Lync at all. Why so urgent?"

"You probably know about Alice already. I was able to get some information about Lync and the locker room case from her, but other things aren't adding up, so I thought it would be best to speak with Lync himself."

"Shun, I've heard a **lot**. Lots of gossip and small talk take place at my bubble tea bar. Although...are you doing this for **your** mom? Or for Alice?"

The raven-haired student finished his drink and stared blankly. "What do you mean?"

"You modified your academic track drastically because of your mom, but stop using her name as an excuse for everything."

"But it's not an excuse! Mom's notes said that Lync was a gentle person and incapable of violently assaulting people, but Alice insists that he was...basically a monster. How else am I supposed to approach this?"

"Well...you're describing two extremes." Joe cleared Shun's empty drink cup and cleaned up. "I'll talk to my mom in person when it's convenient, since I moved out a while back. Don't keep your hopes up, though."

"Anything helps. See you later." Just as he left the café, Shun received a call from Julie. "How come you're directly calling me instead of texting me?"

"Because Alice is in the hospital **again**!"

"Seriously? I'll be there soon."

The Australian hung up first and faced her coworkers. "The three of you should go back to work. I can wait for Alice by myself. Dylan probably finished packing, but I just realized that we left Runo all alone up there. Rafe and Jack, you two should teach Gunz what to do."

The three coworkers nodded and left as Shun found his way to where Julie was. "What even happened that required **four** people to bring Alice to the hospital?"

"It's Dylan— **again**. Just when we thought that things would be get better when he's fired, Dylan come back to pack and purposely shoved Alice. Rafe said she passed out, so we brought her here."

Suddenly, the curtain pulled open as the nurse escorted Alice into the hallway. "Miss Gehabich is all better now. Full-body x-rays revealed no major fractures, and we've treated all the wounds on her hands and feet."

"Thank you!" Julie took control of the wheelchair and pushed Alice to the waiting area. "You had us worried, Alice! What took them so long?"

"I didn't feel well, so the nurses watched my vital signs for another hour." The redhead put on her jacket and saw Shun on her right. "You came too."

"Julie called me over. I was in the area—"

"Sorry to interrupt," said the nurse from earlier. "but could one of you come with me to fill out the discharge paperwork?"

"I got this!" volunteered Julie.

Shun finished where he left off. "I was at Joe's bubble tea place when Julie called. Anyway, did Dylan really push you?"

"Yeah, but—" She groaned in agony and held her hand to her forehead. "I don't know why my head still hurts. The doctor ruled out any concussions and—"

"Don't think about it." The raven-haired student kneeled to Alice's level and held her right hand. "He's not here to hurt you right now. Also, why did they x-ray your entire body? Where did you fall?"

"I landed hip first, but that pain...came from nowhere...and just spread everywhere."

"You're recalling when you were stabbed in the stomach in the locker room, aren't you?"

The redhead sighed and faced away, despite holding onto Shun's hand. "I guess I'm still not over it."

"I never said you were. That's why I'm—"

"Shun? Is that you?" Approaching the pair was Hydron with a stethoscope around his neck. "It's me, Hydron? Alice is here too? This is déjà vu."

"You're Alice's classmate." The raven-haired student pulled his hand away quickly and stood up, much to Alice's dismay. "Alice is almost discharged from the ER."

"Again? This is like the third time or something." The PA student ran over to Alice's left and asked, "Did someone throw dangerous objects at you from the roof?!"

The radio host stared at her right hand and wiggled her fingers slowly. _I shouldn't ask for more than what's already given to me for free._ "Luckily, no. The police already solved that mystery. I was at work this morning when Dylan pushed me."

Julie came back with papers in her hands. "Wow, we have a full house! Alice, the nurse needs your initials and signatures on these papers..."

As the redhead went through each form, Hydron asked, "Are you going to report Dylan to the police?"

Alice signed the last form and handed the stack back to Julie. "I'd rather not. It's not a big issue that caused major harm. If I do report, then he'll think that I'm purposefully targeting him. I'm just grateful that Anubias finally fired Dylan. What more can I ask for?"

Just as Julie left to find the nurse again, loud heel clicks approached the trio before a voice said, "Hydron, I need your help."

The PA student looked up and saw his colleague from last time. "Katie, why are you wearing loud shoes? It's disturbing the patients."

"Hydron, you know her?" Alice asked, although her question went ignored.

The intern pharmacist giggled and explained. "I was going to tap dance for the kids in the pediatric ward, but I need you to help me retrieve—" She glanced at Alice and changed her diction. "—some medications from a storage bin on the same floor first."

"I'll be there soon." Now Hydron kneeled to Alice's level and explained, "Katie's an intern pharmacist and has her rotations at the same time as mine. She's a great friend to have around since we're the only students here of similar age."

"Great...friend..." Those words lingered on the redhead's tongue as her former classmate stood up again. _At least_ _ **you**_ _moved on._

Shun pushed the wheelchair to the side before saying, "I can take Alice and Julie back to the radio station since Katie needs your help, Hydron."

"Sure. Thanks." Hydron waved everyone goodbye before walking off with Katie. Instead of leading him to the pediatric ward, the intern pharmacist exited the building and entered a courtyard. "Katie, what are you doing?"

"Who **was** that?"

The PA student held his hands up confusingly in defense. "What are you talking about? You mean my friends from earlier?"

"Specifically, the female patient."

"Oh...that's Alice. She used to attend Wardington School of Integrated Health Sciences with me before she graduated early. The other people are her friends. Alice was here last time when you asked me to help put an IV bag away. Katie, why are you asking me this?"

"You seem really close with her."

"She's friends with a close friend of mine from back then, so we all know each other to some—"

"I also heard you tell her that you and I also just 'great friends'."

"Well, aren't we? I find it hard to believe that we're the only two non-nursing students on rotations here, so—"

"Forget it." Katie backed up as her shoes clicked loudly after each step. "I just wish you could see us as more than just **that**."

With that said, the intern pharmacist ran back inside the building as Hydron stood in place in utter confusion.

 **-x-x-x-x-x-**

At home, Alice was working at the dining table when the doorbell rang. "Hi Julie! I didn't think you were serious about stopping by my place."

"Well, I just thought we could follow up on how you're doing **and** work on a new project!" the Australian replied. "I brought Shun, by the way. He drove me here."

"Julie wouldn't stop texting me unless I agreed," Shun clarified. "Feeling any better, Alice?"

"I'm okay, although I lost a lot of work time. You two can keep your shoes on." Alice entered the kitchen and grabbed some water glasses. "Julie, what **are** you planning?"

The Australian already seated herself on the sofa and typed furiously on her laptop. "We are going to make a fanpage dedicated to **you**!"

"I thought we already had an official account on—"

"Yeah, but that's for us staff to log in and post updates as administrators. However, I can manage the fanpage as a diehard fan so that all your fans will have a single place to gather.

The redhead handed Julie a glass of water. "I think I'd be less concerned if Runo were in charge." Then she handed the other glass of water to Shun, who was still staring around the living room. "Please tell me that Julie's not insane."

"Hey! I heard that!" screamed the Australian.

"Sorry, you were talking to me?" The raven-haired student saw Alice with his glass of water and Julie waving her laptop like crazy. "A fanpage sounds nice. If Julie's running it, then my only concern is exposing too much inside information since you're also a paid employee."

"I know what to do, Shun. Originally, I was supposed to work on this with Runo, but she has family obligations tonight. We also renamed the show from 'Down with DJ Dylan' to 'AOA: Alice On-Air'. What do you think?"

"They came up with this without my knowledge, by the way," Alice clarified.

Shun shrugged slightly and set his glass on the coffee table. "As long as everyone at work and in the audience agrees, then I'm fine with it."

While Julie resumed typing with earphones on, the redhead commented, "You look more disoriented than me, Shun. What's wrong?"

"Your residence is void of your personal items—just like your work desk. All I see are your aunt's belongings."

Alice gripped her glass tightly and walked away. "I'll never get used to anything."

"That's not what I meant." He followed her to the kitchen where the redhead added ice cubes to her water. "I have a week-long break coming soon. I want to speak with Lync during that time."

"Suit yourself."

Julie took off her earphones and asked loudly, "Alice, what do you like?!"

"Uh..." Alice sat next to Julie and saw the progress so far on the laptop screen. "I like books, movies, TV shows...what are you trying to ask?"

"Just anything to put on this page!"

"How about something you **don't** like?" Shun asked.

"Hmm...oh! I don't like flies, mosquitoes, and most bugs, but I especially hate cockroaches. They freak me out. One of my college classmates was an international student from Macau, and she actually brought an electric racket **and** bug-zapping lamps with her here!"

Julie burst into laughter while typing. "That sounds like something your grandpa would use, Shun!"

Suddenly, the front door opened, and a blond woman walked inside with grocery bags. "Alice, I'm back. Looks like you have friends over."

"Hi, Aunt Clara." The redhead helped move some bags to the kitchen counter. "We're making a fanpage for me since I have the show all to myself."

"Sounds great! Take your time, everyone. I need to go the backyard."

Julie clicked **SAVE** and closed her laptop. "Done for the day! I don't want to do too much without Runo's input. Shun, you don't mind taking me home, right?"

"We are **never** doing this again," he emphasized. The Australian already left the house, but Shun finished his water before returning the glass to Alice, who stood with her arms loosely crossed. "Call me if you need anything."

"Why?"

"Why not?" They stared at each other for a moment, and Alice slowly uncrossed her arms. "A lot of things happened today, but it's over now. Don't stress too much. See you tomorrow."

Recalling what she told him last time after giving egg tarts again, the redhead smiled softly and escorted Shun outside. "See you tomorrow."

 **-x-x-x-x-x-**

"Julie, don't look down at your phone while walking!"

"But Alice, I want to see all the hits and likes on the new fanpage!"

The redhead unlocked the office doors and turned on the lights to start a new day of work. "You said there was a package for me?"

"Oh yeah!" Julie placed a box on Alice's desk. "It arrived even earlier than we did. Kato signed for it today and told me to pick it up from the security office."

"Really?" Alice grabbed a paper knife and cut the tape loose. She lifted the lid but screamed immediately and retreated to the wall as her purse fell off her shoulder. "Oh my god!"

"Are you okay?!" The Australian finally put her phone away and looked inside the cardboard box. "Are you serious?! How dare someone send you dead cockroaches?! And why?!"

 _And we only set up the fanpage a couple days ago,_ thought Alice as she slid down the wall.


	9. Suspicions Rechallenged

_**Reviews:**_

cherry-tree-of-life \- I think know what you're thinking about what those four might be doing, and but the agendas are similar to the drama but still slightly different. Lync isn't all that interesting at first, considering that his "residence" is quite boring. I honestly don't care what happens between Hydron and Katie because it's not important XD Think of it this way: if Alice doesn't/won't blame Julie for the fanpage, then Shun has no right to do so either.

CookieDecor22 \- We'll how fire potentiation via wind will come out another time. Interesting how you dislike Shadow and Gunz already! They (and many others) were so weird in the anime anyway. I have another story planned where Alice is really bitter/upset...but it's will WIP. I know what you mean about Shun's presence around Alice. Maybe an upcoming scene will relieve the fears? You'll see Lync soon!

Cup of Violet Tea \- Unfortunately, you're right! He's still important, just not right now. And no, the girls weren't implying about the fanpage either. There's something else to be done. Huh, you want to see Alice scream (at just about anyone) on air? Maybe in the near yet distant future! Just saying!

ladyluck1668 \- Ignore the ladder! I guess I failed at comedic relief/entry. Shadow will reappear a few times to fix the building (it's his job, obviously). Gunz is kind of erratic, but you'll find out more about him later. This isn't the end of Dylan just yet either! Hydron's not "dense" like Dan, but some people just don't...feel the same way. That's all. You deserve a reward for noticing the references! (haven't decided LOL) More on the mysterious sender in later chapter, actually.

Sugar Spice Rush \- I see what you did there! No one is trying to get multiple people's attention, okay? XD Subtle body language can still tell you a lot. I'd say it's a triangle and nothing more than three (to be revealed in later chapters). You're the first to think that Katie (not Dylan) sent the package, but as usual I'll leave everyone hanging until the big reveal!

 **-x-x-x-**

 **Me: So, I published this 2 years ago, and Chapter 9 is slightly behind of the midpoint, actually.**

 **Runo: How "slightly"?**

 **Dan: How "behind"?**

 **Shun: Since when did you two start asking questions consecutively? Leave her alone.**

 **Me: I'm trying not to exceed 20 chapters, but I'm also trying to finish Catch Me When You Can first, so yeah. This is probably one of my slower-progressing stories, sorry...**

 **Julie: I am NEVER picking up mail again! The security staff can deliver it up here instead!**

 **Billy: That doesn't mean someone else can go downstairs to pick up mail.**

 **Julie: Public service announcement! NOBODY from the office may pick up mail from—**

 **Shun: The author owns nothing except the end result of combining many plots... Did I say that right? I didn't like Dan's disclaimer from last time.**

 **Me: Yup, that's perfect! And as I promised—**

 **Dan: "Chimeric" should be one of your SAT vocabulary** **words!**

 **Me: (creates smoke screen)** **—visiting Lync and receiving mail item #2, here we go!**

* * *

 **Chapter 9: Suspicions Rechallenged**

 **xXx**

Inside the building director's office, Anubias peered inside the package as Julie and Alice stared nervously. "I see what you ladies mean. Where would someone find **that** many cockroaches to kill...?"

"Someone's **clearly** pranking us!" the Australian screamed.

Alice was silent for most of the office visit, so Anubias asked calmly, "Alice, do you want to file a police report?"

"I...would rather not." After receiving a jaw-dropping reaction from Julie, the redhead continued speaking. "I'm not physically hurt, and I don't want any more negative publicity to affect the radio station. I just want to run the show as smoothly as—"

"I swear, Dylan probably did this!" interrupted Julie. "We set up a fanpage for Alice a couple days ago, and we did write that Alice doesn't like cockroaches. Who knew that the devil works **that** fast and sends **this** nasty package?"

Alice kept her head down during Julie's rant, so Anubias asked calmly again, "Alice, do **you** think Dylan sent this package?"

The redhead stared at the box and brushed her hair behind her ears repeatedly. "Forget it. The package has no return address. Retracing where it came from would be a waste of time. In fact, I'm sorry that we wasted your time, Anubias."

"Alice, how can you let Dylan do this to you?!" Julie cried.

"Alice has a point," Anubias noted. "All of you should focus on making the show better now that Dylan doesn't work here. However, if more suspicious packages come in, let me know immediately. Now return to work."

Both employees nodded. Alice returned to the studio first and blindly bumped into Runo on the way to her desk. "Alice, are you—"

"She's not okay." Julie dragged the bluenette to the side and whispered. "I'll explain later, but I think that Dylan—"

"Not my favorite paper knife!" All eyes faced Alice as she crouched over the fallen office tool on the ground. She wrapped the broken blade tip with scratch paper before trashing it. After capping the broken knife, she tossed it carelessly on her desk and exited the office studio.

Runo kept her eyes on Alice and later whispered to Julie, "You'd better tell me **everything**."

At the building's back alley, Alice paced around while gripping her phone tightly. _Why would someone deliberately send me dead cockroaches when I clearly hate them? Julie thinks that Dylan did it, but we don't have any proof._

Suddenly, she opened her phone contacts and dialed a number. After some ringing, a male voice answered, "What's wrong?"

"I—uh—" The redhead twirled a few strands of hair before asking, "Shun, how did you know that I'm not feeling well?"

"I said that you could call me for anything. You also sounded nervous earlier. So tell me what's wrong."

"Anything can also mean nothing, but that's not the point. This morning, someone sent me a package of dead cockroaches, and—"

"You were specifically complaining about how much hated cockroaches and other bugs when we set up the fanpage the other day..."

"I know, but it's not just that. One time in college, I was in a hurry and decided to eat lunch during dress rehearsal. Suddenly, cockroaches came from nowhere, and I just couldn't deal with anything for the rest of the day. To this day, no one knows where the cockroaches came from. My lunch wasn't expired or overly aromatic."

"So...it's not about hate. It's about fear. Cockroaches give you bad memories, just like—"

"Everyone and everything else." After a long pause on both ends, Alice added, "Maybe my PTSD extends beyond the locker room incident."

"Maybe it's just not overcome yet."

Alice sighed and began walking back to the studio. "Thanks for not minding all my complaints, Shun. I honestly don't know who else to talk to."

Shun took another long pausing before making an offer. "If you think talking to me about past and presents relieves helps set you free, then go for it. If the call doesn't go through, then text me."

"I will." The redhead checked her watch and pressed the elevator button. "I need to go back to work now. I'll—"

"One more thing."

Alice paused.

"Thanks for calling me."

 _That's all he wanted to say?_ She smiled, although Shun wouldn't be able to see it anyway. "Talk to you later."

"See you then."

 **-x-x-x-x-x-**

 _Thank goodness Dr. Brown approved my request and arranged everything for me._

Shun sat patiently on one side of the rectangular table in the meeting room as a security guard escorted a pink-haired prisoner to sit down on the opposite side. "You're Lync Volan? I'm—"

"—Shun. I know who you are. The staff told me you were coming." After an awkward silence, Lync added, "You're Miss Shiori's son, right?"

The raven-haired student nodded. "My mom let you call her by her first name as well?"

"She said it's to lessen any tension between us. Anyway, how are you doing?"

"Excuse me?"

"I know she passed away some time ago. I'd like to know how you coped with that. She was your mom, after all."

 _Either he's playing with me, or Mom was the only person that treated him nicely ever since._ "I'm fine. I did change some things about my academic course so I can pursue what she did. I have a lot of supportive friends as well. So, tell me how **you're** doing."

Lync shook his head. "No one really cares about me here. The staff treat me nicely, mainly because it's their job. I haven't done anything violent in here. The other prisoners don't even talk to **or** bully me. It's so weird. By the way, can you do me a favor?"

"First of all, **I** came to **you** to ask about the locker room incident. I'm not obligated to do you any favors, especially since I haven't asked you anything yet."

"I just want you to send Miss Shiori some flowers to her grave in my name..."

Shun calmed down after realizing his mistake.

"You probably think I'm a violent killer, and I don't blame you. But Miss Shiori was the only person that visited me, and I'm grateful that she went beyond her assigned tasks and visited me—more often than Dr. Brown, actually."

 _He's right. Mom was assigned to first evaluate Lync to build a case in court. When she finished, she went to assist Alice while Dr. Brown supervised Lync to make sure he didn't do anything stupid. So not only did Mom help Alice with some life planning beyond mandated victim counselling, she also visited Lync to make sure he's okay even after the jury reached a guilty verdict._ "I'm sorry that I yelled at you earlier. I've been jumping to conclusions lately and can't stop overthinking about things. I promise I'll send flowers on your behalf. Did you have specific ones in mind?"

"Pink carnations would be nice. She was very gentle and motherly."

 _I know how you feel._ "Anyway, I need to ask you some serious questions. Were you close with Alice's quintet of friends back then?"

Suddenly, Lync tightened his hands as his fingers pinched each other. "Why are you bringing this up now?"

 _He's reacting the same way Alice reacts when I mention the past to her._ "You said that everyone thinks you're a violent killer, right?"

Lync stared with wide eyes as he pinched his fingers even harder.

"If you think you're innocent, then think of answering my questions as a way to help my Mom truly rest in peace. She doesn't think you're a bad—"

"I killed them, alright?" the prisoner interrupted. "That's a fact, and nobody can change it."

"Then tell me the whole truth."

"I..." Lync groaned loudly as the security guard came to hold him down to prevent throwing a fit. "I didn't mean it. It wasn't supposed to end up like this."

"What do you mean? There's an alternative ending?"

Suddenly, the intercom system played a distinctive tune as Lync looked up. "Shun, thanks for visiting me, but it's almost lunchtime, and I don't **really** want to be late. See you next time?"

"But I—"

The same security guard from earlier explained, "This facility only gives a short window of time for all prisoners to eat lunch. I hope you understand."

Shun nodded and faced Lync. "I still have school, but I'll try my best to make time and visit."

After that security guard escorted Lync away, another security guard escorted Shun to the facility's front exit. _What Lync told me today were only bits and pieces of what_ _I_ _need to know. But every time I pressure him for answers, he avoids the question._

He took out his phone and dialed Alice's number. "Are you busy?"

"Hold on." Footsteps echoed on Alice's end, presumably due to walking elsewhere. "What is it?"

"I spoke with Lync today."

"And...?"

"Alice, I don't think he killed your friends back then. At least, not at his own will."

"So...you think someone else convinced him to stab all five of us? How so?"

"I'm not a professional, but that would fit with Mom's notes about Lync being a nice person incapable of killing people—at his own will, of course. He could've been easily swayed by someone else."

"That could explain why he hesitated..."

Shun paused as he processed this new information. _What does 'hesitated' mean? Hesitant to kill? Or hesitant to answer my questions? But Alice wouldn't have known about the conversation I just had with Lync._ "Are you still talking about Lync?"

There was another long pause on Alice's end before she said, "Meet me at the harbor from last time."

"Right now? Don't you have work?"

"Lunch break," was the redhead's answer before hanging up.

The raven-haired student immediately drove to the section of Bayview's harbor where he took Alice to last time. After parking, he saw her standing by the railing and digging her fingernails into her crossed arms exposed from wearing a sleeveless polo. "Alice, aren't you freezing?!"

Despite Shun taking off his jacket to cover Alice, she made no effort to look at him and continued staring at the water. "I was so scared that Lync might do something violent while you two were talking."

"He didn't hurt me at all. Lync was very calm and welcoming, just hesitant to answer some of my questions."

"That suggests that he has something to hide."

"Maybe he's trying to hide the identity of the person that told him to do this." That hypothesis immediately caught Alice's attention, prompting her to face Shun and finally realize how much colder today's sea breezes were. "Alice, what were you telling me earlier about 'why he hesitated'?"

"When Lync attacked the others, he used swift motions repeatedly. I was last and fearing for my life on the ground, but it took Lync a while to find me. And when he did, he stood over me for the longest time before stabbing me— **slowly**."

"So he finished the others quickly but took his time with you?"

Alice nodded. "At the hospital, the nurses said that the others had multiple shallow wounds, but the simultaneous blood loss took their lives quickly. I had only one deep wound, yet I survived despite the agony I went through while waiting for help. Of course, one of them is still comatose to this day."

"Have you visited her at all?"

"No...I still can't get myself together. Even if I wanted to visit, she's in a special care facility with stricter visitor policies." The redhead pulled Shun's jacket tighter over herself and leaned her back against the railing. "Why is it that **I** survived, but the people that supported me **didn't**? It makes no—"

Suddenly, Shun pulled Alice closer for a hug, much to the latter's surprise. "Like I said, it's all in the past. Lync can't hurt you anymore."

"I hope you're right." The radio host leaned closer and noted, "You sound tachycardic."

"What?"

"Abnormally fast heart rate. Must be because your body's trying to compensate for being cold."

"Are you sure it's me? You were about to have another panic attack earlier if I hadn't stopped you."

"Maybe it **is** me." _But for_ _ **other**_ _reasons..._

As Alice breathed normally again, Shun pondered about all the new information that he learned in the same day from both sides of the situation. _Is what Alice told me about hesitation the same as what Lync meant when he said things weren't supposed to end up like this? Did someone force Lync to do this against this will? Or did someone gaslight Lync into thinking that Alice and her friends must be eliminated? But_ _ **why**_ _?_

 **-x-x-x-x-x-**

"You didn't have to drive me to work today, Shun..."

The raven-haired student dropped Alice off at her workplace the next day with his motorcycle. "If I hadn't called to follow up after yesterday's situation, then you'd be taking public transportation."

"There's nothing wrong with that. Meanwhile, you have a car **and** motorcycle."

"But there's nothing wrong with being with me either, right?"

Alice removed her helmet slowly and returned it to Shun. "You're lucky that Aunt Clara went work earlier than usual **and** that I start late today. Are you still on break?"

"I only have a couple days left. Also, give me your hand." The redhead stared at her hands before offering the hand that wore the charm bracelet. "Why did I have a feeling that you'd give me that hand?"

"Maybe you know me well enough already. You were saying?"

Shun chuckled slightly and pinched Alice's middle proximal interphalangeal joint. The redhead winced as her friend explained. "This is just me—which my mom taught—but pinching that joint relieve my nervousness when it happens."

"You get nervous too?"

"Who **doesn't** get nervous during public speaking discussion?"

Alice laughed and covered her mouth with her free hand. "I'll try this next time when I go on air with an unfamiliar topic."

"Do you need me to pick you up from work? Your aunt might be more tired today, and I assume that you starting late also means ending late."

The redhead checked her phone for her work schedule. "You have a point. I'll let you know later. See you around."

"Remember what I told you."

Alice smiled and ascended the elevator to the thirteenth floor. She pinched her finger like Shun did, then noticed the scratches on her arms from the other day. _This is better than digging my nails into my skin and not noticing the pain until much later._ Alice opened the double doors but stepped back upon seeing a familiar metal ladder. "Shadow, you're back?"

"Hey Alice!" The maintenance technician descended the ladder and packed everything. "Gunz called us about repairing the air conditioning and ventilation. I fixed the AC, but I don't have the right parts for the ventilation fans. Those might take a day or two to arrive. For now, just open the windows but **not** while the AC is on, okay?"

"Thanks, Shadow!" replied everyone.

Alice nodded without a saying word before the technician left the floor. She quickly sat down in her seat and pulled on her bracelet again. _The ventilation fans here aren't like the ones from school. Forget about it, Alice._

The tall blond employee stopped by the redhead's desk with some envelopes. "This mail is all yours, Alice!"

"Thanks, Gunz."

Alice tossed some junk mail away until she saw a regular white envelope with her name and work address handwritten in black ink. _Is this fan mail? But the sender didn't follow the specific directions for mailing fan correspondence._ _ **And**_ _there's no return address._ She reached for her pen cup but retracted immediately. _I still haven't replaced my paper knife yet..._

The redhead inserted her finger under the flap and dragged along the adhesive until she touched something and then dropped everything. "That hurts!"

Everyone faced Alice as her finger trickled red, while some gray specks fell out of the envelope. Julie gasped and grabbed her tissue box. "Your finger is **bleeding**! What happened?!"

While the Australian tended to the wound, Runo approached the gray specks and picked one up. "These are knife blades. They might fit into your empty paper knife handle, Alice."

" **My** paper knife?"

The bluenette then nodded and showed one blade to the redhead, who further leaned back into her chair. "I appreciate the 'gift', but at least wrap the blades so that nobody gets hurt."

"Runo, can you **please** call Dan already?! We need to report this!" Julie screamed.

"Fine, give me a moment."

While the Australian continued performing first aid, Alice stared at the knife blades and blood drops on the floor. _First the cockroaches, now this. Who's doing this to me? What if Julie's right?_

* * *

 **Dan: How do you "sound" tachycardic? Shouldn't you just "be" tachycardic?**

 **Me: I'm not a healthcare student, so I apologize if the verb is wrong! And if anything, ask Hydron for help!**

 **Dan: Uhhhh never mind then. BUT WAIT! Shouldn't your heart slow down when you're cold?**

 **Runo: Dan, STOP.**

 **Me: To the best of my knowledge, bloodflow to extremities would decrease since it's more important to perfuse other vital organs like the brain, hence frostbite and amputating** **—**

 **Julie: Back to the main point! Runo, we need to report this second package immediately!**

 **Runo: I didn't ask or sign up for this...**

 **Dan: What are other reasons that can cause fast heart rate?**

 **Shun: Epinephrine. End of story. It's** **the same as adrenaline, by the way.**

 **Dan: Shun, are you sure you're not tachycardic because of something** **—or someONE** **—** **else? Like being *extremely* close to** **—**

 **Shun: Somebody sedate him, please. Oh wait, I can actually sedate him myself. (disappears behind a door)**

 **Dan: Where did he go?!**

 **Me: If you didn't read Catch Me When You Can, then you wouldn't know what Shun's planning XD Next chapter will feature a THIRD piece of mail (*cough* not the last piece, though) and something resembling revenge. I think? For those of you tired of seeing "offensive" mail, I promise that this package will be somewhat different from the others ;)**

 **Runo: Your facial expressions aren't making the package seem any safer.**

 **Me: Who said the packages were safe to begin with? XD Review for now!**

* * *

 _Special Shoutout:_ _ladyluck1668 just finished her first story, "Y(our) Eyes"! Go_ _check it out!_


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